Because the Canadian dollar has held its own against the US dollar in this context, largely due to higher oil prices, it has also been rising against most other currencies.
Clearly, the prospects for European productivity growth are very important, not least, because in the future population ageing will mean that each worker will be supporting more dependents. Before concluding, I would like to say something about the links between the conference topics and central banking. There are a number of important ways in which monetary policy and potential output growth interact.