Moreover, our monetary policy strategy ensured that the appropriate medium-term orientation of monetary policy was maintained. Maintaining such a mediumterm perspective ensured that we were not unduly influenced by market developments, which – particularly in a context of heightened tensions – can be rather excessive and perhaps near-sighted.
Over the past half-century, societies have embraced the protections of the myriad initiatives that have partially substituted government financial guarantees and implied certifications of integrity for business reputation. As a consequence, the value of trust so prominent in the nineteenth century seemed by the 1990s to be less necessary.