The rapid pace of business innovations makes it impractical to have a rule in place to anticipate every business transaction. Rather, the more complex and dynamic the world of business becomes, the more important it is that accounting be based on strong principles that are sufficiently robust to provide the framework for proper accounting of new types of transactions.
Budget deficits in euro area countries must be reduced in a timely fashion to maintain confidence in public finances. Avoiding protectionism and disruptive market movements related to global imbalances will require a high degree of international cooperation among policy makers in advanced and emerging market economies. This brings me to my second point: what are the lessons of the financial crisis?