Many of the papers to be presented and discussed over the next two days focus on the behavior of private institutions operating in financial markets. I thought I could complement these presentations by discussing the efforts of an important class of public institutions--central banks--to foster efficiency and stability in the financial system.
Indeed, gains in real residential investment spending have been faster so far this year than last year, although the level of new residential construction still remains fairly low. And outside of the drilling and mining sector, where lower oil prices have led to substantial cuts in outlays for new structures, business investment spending has posted moderate gains.