The message that governments should heed is that, ultimately, market forces will come to bear with severe results if firms or nations are artificially protected from market forces. III. Sound Capital as a Risk-Absorbing Buffer My third major theme today -- the importance of adequate capital -- has drawn much attention in the past decade as a result of the Basle Accord.
In the euro area one of the urgent problems that needs to be addressed is the insufficient real convergence of the economies. A labour market that is too rigid in certain countries may, for example, inhibit the good functioning of the monetary union.