In the US, because the banks––even the big ones, even Citigroup––are small in relation to the financial system and are not dominant in it, the firewalls worked, and market forces resulted in a bank like Citigroup deciding to sell its insurance company and its funds, for economic reasons. In Israel we have tried various methods of solving the problem, including firewalls, but without success.
The recent scaling down of expectations for economic growth stems partly from a weaker outlook for the global economy, which in turn is closely related to the significant fall in stock prices which has occurred over recent months in all major economies. As regards domestic demand, higher growth of private consumption should be a key factor in supporting economic activity in the euro area.