*  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great privilege for me to be here in Sofia today to accept an honorary doctorate from the distinguished University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Bulgaria’s most respected economics institute.
To properly mark the occasion, I would like to talk about the global financial crisis and its roots, and the ECB’s response to the crisis. The global financial crisis and its roots Let me start by briefly highlighting the origins and evolution of the current crisis.