the banks? they will continue to exist, they will all have to adjust business models over time, some will thrive and expand in both domestic and foreign markets, others will shrink or disappear. this is what market economics is about – to the benefit of society, consumers and business. the objective is to enable the best provision of services to the market, not to preserve specific companies. banks should continue to strive to be well capitalised, and we know from history that they need a helping hand from regulators to pursue this at all times. but one needs to stress one particular horizontal conclusion in the context of competition and increasing competition, irrespective of the driving forces. that is the need for a fully functioning and comprehensive resolution framework, which enables market exit or restructuring of unviable banks without triggering financial crises and without bail - outs by taxpayers. we are in europe much closer to achieving this than we were in the past. but we are not where we should be or wish to be yet. a lot needs to be done in terms of recovery and resolution - planning by banks and regulators. commitment needs to be stronger, avoiding exceptions which page 3 of 6 undermine the credibility of the resolution framework. communication needs to be clear and transparent : losses and recapitalisation are to be fully borne by shareholders and creditors, not taxpayers. bail - out was something authorities had to do, when that was the only way to avoid standard bankruptcies of failing financial institutions. standard bankruptcies do not work for large financial institutions. therefore we now have the principle of bail - in, which will at the same time allow the vital activities to continue while letting shareholders and creditors cover those losses they would have had to cover in case of bankruptcy – just like in any other failing private company. so yes, banking can be sustainable, but it would be hazardous to predict their future market share and business models. digitisation and currencies coming back to digitisation and payment systems, one may start from acknowledging what a payment is. a payment is basically a transfer of ownership for an asset from one person or entity to another person or entity. in barter economies that could work through exchanges of physical goods or services. cash issued by central banks made some progress in the payment system. modern payment systems are so much more efficient. in addition, people like to be able to store financial assets. such virtues are combined by exchanging deposits between bank accounts, and it became convenient to think about bank deposits as " money ".

strongly than last year, but slightly less than in the rest of the eu. nevertheless, unemployment is expected to continue to increase for some time as it typically lags behind demand. no one can say for certain how long the increase will continue and how strong it will be. any calculations we make will have a considerable element of uncertainty. according to the latest estimate, unemployment will not peak until early 2011 at around 190, 000 persons. denmark can use economic policy to mitigate the mounting crisis, but we cannot avoid it – no matter what we do. we have already launched significant measures to stimulate private consumption and activity in the building and construction sector. fiscal policy is expansionary and has been so for several years. danmarks nationalbank's policy rates are historically low. we are running out of room to manoeuvre. we cannot force consumers to spend more. in the worst case, consumers will save up and then spend the money at a time when it would be more appropriate for them to tighten the reins. if we cut to the chase, it is a question of how much we can use the building and construction sector as a cyclical regulator to create jobs as compensation for falling employment in other sectors – exports, trade, services and the financial sector. we are saying : wait a moment and let us see how the measures already implemented work. after all, capacity in building and construction is limited. only recently, the sector was in full alert with overheating and shortage of craftsmen, while prices and wages were rising. if we overburden the building and construction sector again, history will repeat itself and that could ultimately exacerbate the crisis. finally, the contribution to an overall reduction in unemployment will be limited in any case. and i have not even mentioned the difficulties of ensuring rational planning of building or construction projects moved forward or subsidy schemes that stimulate initiation of projects. indeed, the crux of the matter here is job creation and not what can be done to mitigate the consequences for the unemployed. efforts should be directed at retaining and developing competencies, for example, and an extraordinary effort is required to create more places in education and training. * * * during the last six months of financial turbulence, the mortgage system has proved that it can ensure financing of real property. market confidence in the danish mortgage system has been upheld, against the backdrop of mounting difficulties in financing real property in many other countries. monetary policy has been relaxed all over the world. on 3