Thank you to the Associates of the Asper School of Business for the invitation. I was able to get out for a run this morning at The Forks. It is a beautiful area, and I was struck by the impressive architecture of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. I am looking forward to visiting it this week.
Additionally, investment decreased sharply which possibly has been the most important factor behind low credit growth in Germany. The decline in investment has been drastic in comparison to the level of economic activity. Between 2001 and 2003 real investment fell by over 5 percent a year. This has driven down the ratio of investment to GDP to about 18 percent.