*  *  Introduction  Dear Bodil, Ladies and Gentlemen, When Danmarks Nationalbank invited me to speak today, I had no hesitation in accepting its invitation, although my feelings towards the occasion being marked are somewhat ambivalent.
When our host, Ms Bodil Nyboe Andersen, leaves her post as Governor of Danmarks Nationalbank at the end of this month the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the ECB will lose a highly esteemed member of its General Council.