Furthermore, – I trust you will grant me the quote – “irrational exuberance” in major stock markets has reinvigorated the debate about financial market prices and their appropriate role in monetary policy. I The European Central Bank (ECB) has been given a clear mandate to keep inflation in check.
In both these sectors, employment rose at a rate of 1,2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2002. This turnaround in employment trends suggests that employment has begun to be responsive to economic growth and that the restructuring process that characterised the economy since the early 1990s is bearing fruit.