Let me conclude by saying that we must never lose sight of why we need both monetary and financial stability. They are not an end in themselves but contribute to long-term growth and raising of living standards. BIS Review 129/1999  4
However, I would like to emphasize another important background factor, that is, demographic change in the form of population ageing. Indeed, the “bubble and burst” and subsequent financial crisis seemed to coincide roughly with the turning-point of population pyramids in Japan, the United States, and Europe.