Well-functioning labour markets can make it that much easier to conduct a stability-oriented monetary policy. Additionally, the topic of this congress, “New Approaches and Challenges for Labour Markets of the 21st Century” is highly topical with regard to the euro area crisis, which is overarching everything else right now.
The crisis can also be seen as a balance of payments crisis of the affected countries, brought about by excessive public and private debt, combined with a lack of competitiveness.