seen as a major challenge around the world. 2 however, the perception of steadily rising inequality depends strongly on the indicator used. when you look at the gini coefficient of net income, for example, which is a commonly used measure of inequality, inequality across countries has decreased over the last two decades. within countries, however, we see a mixed picture of higher gini coefficients since the 1990s in some advanced and emerging countries, yet lower coefficients in other countries. 3 of course, gini coefficients looking at the distribution of net income after taxes and transfers are only one of many measures. the dispersion of gross market income, the distribution of wealth, the median income and poverty rates are other measures that seek to quantify economic inequality. further measures describe inter - generational distribution by looking at demographic aspects and public debt. all in all, there is no uniform answer to the question how inequality has evolved over the last decades. 3. conclusion notwithstanding the difficulties associated with measuring inequality meaningfully, policies that achieve both inclusion and growth are especially sought after. we need to ensure that enterprises and their employees are properly equipped to harness the opportunities presented by globalisation and technological progress, and that they are able to cope with structural change, especially through better education and life - long learning. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches as a former minister for education, tharman will certainly agree on this. that said, we are looking forward to hearing suggestions from you, tharman, on how to make inclusive growth a reality. the floor is yours. 1 christine lagarde, managing director, imf : “ lifting the small boats ", address at grandes conferences catholiques, brussels, june 17, 2015. 2 see, eg, the world economic forum ( 2017 ), the inclusive growth and development report 2017, geneva, and oecd ( 2017 ), a policy framework to help guide the g20 in its development of policy options to foster more inclusive growth, paris. 3 imf ( 2017 ), fostering inclusive growth, report prepared by staff of the imf for the g20, june 2017, washington dc, p. 12. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

jens weidmann : the world economy in transition – a european perspective speech by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank, at the european banking congress, frankfurt am main, 18 november 2011. * 1. * * introduction ladies and gentlemen first, i would like to thank you for the invitation. it is a pleasure and an honour for me to speak here at the european banking congress before such a distinguished audience. the topic of this year ’ s congress is “ the big shift ” and, just to make things perfectly clear, this does not exclusively refer to the current crisis. while the crisis dominates centre stage, the “ big shift ” takes places in the background. it does not go unnoticed but it receives less attention. what i am referring to is the continuous rise of emerging economies. this development is to the crisis as plate tectonics is to a volcanic eruption : it is slower yet its implications might be larger. but before we talk about the implications of the big shift, let us take a look at the facts. 2. shifting economic powers over the past few years, emerging economies have become ever more important players in the world economy. during the last decade, real gdp in these economies grew by roughly 6 % per annum. over the same period, output in advanced economies rose by a little less than 2 % on average. according to estimates by the imf, emerging economies now account for almost half of global output, measured by purchasing power parities. the rising share in world gdp also implies an increasing role of emerging economies as generators of global growth. between 2000 and 2010, they contributed on average two thirds to the increase in global output, again measured by purchasing power parities. thus, they actually helped to stabilise the world economy during the recent crisis. looking into the future, it is generally assumed that emerging economies ’ share of world output will increase further. in this regard, the imf projects that, by as early as 2016, china might overtake the united states as the largest economy when measured in purchasing power parities. however, when it comes to such predictions, the similarity to the plate tectonics that i mentioned earlier, ends. while plate tectonics involve a rather predictable process, the structural change in the world economy is certainly not predictable. take the example of japan. not too long ago, japan was perceived in a similar way to how china is perceived now : a country that was on the way to becoming the