1 I will focus on who is best placed to bear risk, and on how risk management can be better supported. Risks and challenges Let me start with a fundamental question: Why do people save for their old age? Essentially, people save during their working years so they can retire at some point and not suffer a precipitous drop in income and living standards.
Constructing a sui generis response It is clear that the way ahead for the euro area cannot involve trying to construct the institutions of a political federation overnight. This implies that the euro area needs a different approach to ensure the smooth functioning of monetary union that can compensate for some of these “missing institutions”. This approach has two main pillars.