that by the time men born in 1935 reached age 30, about 97 percent of them were in the labor force. in contrast, only about 92 percent of 30 - year - old men born in 1976 were in the labor force. although not shown in the exhibit, a roughly similar pattern exists for men older than 30, and, all else equal, the gradual reduction in labor force participation of men has put downward pressure on the overall participation rate. exhibit 3 also shows that, until recently, the decline in the labor force participation rate of successive generations of men had been more than offset by a steady increase in the participation rates for each new generation of women. women born in the 1920s and 1930s had low participation rates at age 30, but three - fourths of 30 - year - olds born in 1960 were in the labor force. however, participation rates for more recent generations of 30 - year - old women have not risen any further. economists at the federal reserve have developed a model that combines information on the decline in labor force participation at older ages, shown in exhibit 2, with information on the changes in labor stephanie aaronson, bruce fallick, andrew figura, jonathan pingle, and william wascher ( 2006 ), “ the recent decline in the labor force participation rate and its implications for potential labor supply, ” brookings papers on economic activity, 2006 : 1, pp. 69 - 154. the baby boom is generally taken to be children born from 1946 through 1964. the census bureau estimates that roughly 78 million american baby boomers were alive as of july 1, 2005, and that approximately 2. 9 million americans turned 60 in 2006. u. s. census bureau ( 2006 ), “ facts for features : special edition, oldest baby boomers turn 60, ” press release cb06 - ffse. 01 - 2, january 3, www. census. gov / press - release / www / releases /. this projection combines the latest estimates of population from the bureau of the census for 2006 ( http : / / www. census. gov / popest / estimates. php ) with the census bureau ’ s projections of population growth by age through 2015 ( http : / / www. census. gov / ipc / www / usinterimproj ). force participation across generations, shown in exhibit 3. exhibit 4 shows the actual participation rate, the model ’ s estimate of the underlying trend in the total participation rate between 1995 and 2006, and – under

mario draghi : laudatio for theo waigel speech by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, in honour of dr theodor waigel, at signsawards, munich, 17 june 2016. * * * james freeman clarke, a 19th century theologian, once observed that “ a politician is a man who thinks of the next election, while a statesman thinks of the next generation ”. this captures well why we are here to honour theo waigel today. theo waigel ’ s political career cannot just be defined by the elections he won, however many there were during his 30 years in the bundestag. nor can it be defined by his time as head of the csu and as finance minister of germany. it is defined by his legacy : a legacy that is still shaping europe today. he became finance minister in 1989 at a turning - point in post - war european history – when the iron curtain that divided europe was being lifted ; when the walls and barbed wire that divided germany were being removed. it was a time of great hopes and expectations. but it was also a time of some anxiety. it was clear that the successful reunification of germany would be a tremendous undertaking. and many wondered what those changes would mean for the european community – whether it would upset the balance of power that had prevailed between nations since the war. in that uncertain setting, theo waigel ’ s leadership was pivotal – both as a german and as a european. he was one of the strongest advocates of german reunification, and was instrumental in getting germany ’ s federal and state governments to finance the reconstruction and modernisation of east germany. and under his influence, the german government took a fundamental decision for europe : that the reunification which made germany stronger should not make europe weaker. free of the threat of the soviet union, germany chose not to go down a path of its own making. instead, it renewed its commitment to europe. and it demonstrated the strength of that commitment by sharing its currency with its neighbours. as theo waigel said, germany brought the deutsche mark to europe, and in doing so brought the euro into being. this historic sequence of events spoke to three character traits which define theo waigel : his vision, his resolve and his statesmanship. he was a person who took the long view and followed his convictions rather than the zeitgeist. he was not discouraged by the obstacles that stood in his way, however high they were. and he had that crucial quality of