Let me at this point give a special welcome to Ms. Bradley, the Director of the JVI, and thank her for the excellent cooperation. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Joint Vienna Institute look back at a long history of cooperation and this year’s conference bears testimony to our close collaboration.
*  *  *  I am pleased to speak to you this morning at what has become, over more than four decades, perhaps the most prestigious conference for bankers, academics, and bank supervisors in the United States.