Last but not least, I’d like to quote a rather long sentence from a report published last week by the ECB: “With a view to increasing the employment and growth potential by making the economy more flexible, thereby maintaining the sustainability of public finances and price stability, national policies aiming at improving the functioning of product and labour markets are also needed, while social partners will need to ensure that wage developments are in line with labour productivity growth and developments in competitor countries.” I’m sure you know that this statement does not refer to Germany but to Sweden.
Russia is in the grip of a profound economic crisis, which naturally has a very worrying political dimension. In Latin America, despite considerable efforts at adjustment in some countries, there are still latent risks of contagion, and the markets have, alas, so far not taken sufficient account of the differences in conditions.