years, both of which are, first and foremost, after - effects of the financial and economic crisis. nevertheless, some observers already think that this could be the new normal. they are concerned that central banks are coming up against the lower bound with their policy rates more and more frequently and are having to turn to non - standard instruments. that ’ s why some economists propose aiming for a higher rate of inflation, anticipating that this would provide a greater safety margin to the interest rate floor. 6 / 8 bis central bankers'speeches but there are side - effects and risks associated with raising the target inflation rate, something which the bundesbank highlighted at length in its june monthly report this year. 19 at this point, let's bear in mind the vital importance of firmly anchored inflation expectations for effective monetary policy. putting up the inflation target causes inflation expectations to shift. but there is absolutely no guarantee that they will quickly fall into line with and remain anchored at the new target rate. ben bernanke once put it like this : “ if we were to go to 4 % and say we ’ re going to 4 %, we would risk a lot of … hard - won credibility, because folks would say, well, if we go to 4 %, why not go to 6 %? it ’ d be very difficult to tie down expectations at 4 %. ” 20 this is why i am convinced that we should continue aiming for inflation of below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term and not arouse any doubts as to our credibility as monetary policymakers. in any case, with regard to the natural interest rate and the long - term outlook, a growth - promoting economic policy and structural reforms are the right way to go. and we can set about this at both the national and the european level. it is particularly crucial, for instance, that we harness the possibilities offered by digitalisation, by improving educational opportunities, expanding the digital infrastructure, bolstering cyber security and modernising the legal framework. the time has come for europe to finally complete the digital single market. 21 a higher growth path leads to a higher general interest rate level, which would give monetary policy more water under its keel again. 6 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, “ computers are useless. they can only give you answers. ” pablo picasso is supposed to have said that, over half a century ago. and with that, he joins the ranks of famous inaccurate predictions – in some ways. for there is a grain

- rounders we could no longer do without in our everyday life. today, smartphones also double up as cameras, navigation systems, game consoles, diaries, address books, pocket calculators and much more, all on one single device. although we cannot yet fly to the moon using our mobile phones, smartphones do, however, contain a memory chip which is several hundred thousand times larger than that used in the computer on board the apollo 11 mission, which was sufficient to take the first human beings to the moon back in 1969. this increase in the number of functions has also led to rapid growth in their distribution : there are now more mobile phones in the world than people. and yet the success story of the smartphone is just one example of the transformative power of digitalisation. let's just look at the way we communicate with each other, keep ourselves informed or do our shopping today : so 1 / 8 bis central bankers'speeches much has changed in recent years that it would be easier to list what has actually stayed the same. the increasing use of digital technologies is also taking companies and employees into a new, digital age. these developments are the focus of this year's conference. from a central bank ’ s perspective, the change process raises the question of the overall economic implications. in other words, what does the digital revolution mean for growth, employment and price developments? i would like to take a closer look at these aspects with you today. 2 impact on productivity “ productivity isn ’ t everything, but in the long run it is almost everything. ” this quote by paul krugman emphasised the fact that a higher standard of living in the long term hinges on an economy's ability to boost its productivity. 1 and this is where technological progress through digitalisation comes into play. this initially involves companies in the digital economy, such as manufacturers of telecommunications technology, software developers or service providers in the it sector. labour productivity is growing much faster in this sector than in the economy as a whole. although the share of these companies in terms of total value added is still rather small in germany, this sector does make a significant contribution to overall economic productivity growth : since the mid - 1990s, it has averaged a quarter of a percentage point per year. in other economies, such as in sweden, finland and some industrialised countries outside europe, the contribution was significantly higher. digital technologies are also breaking into other industries and changing products and processes there, too. we have noticed