*  *  Introduction1  It is a great pleasure for me to speak tonight in front of such a distinguished audience. Tonight, I would like to share with you some concerns about the present state of financial markets, as some of these markets are not functioning properly or are barely functioning at all.
Given the relevance of this issue at a global level, I find it quite interconnected with the topics addressed at this conference. Markets exist for many goods – but not for all. There are many conceivable markets for goods and services that do not exist.