Looking at the historical evidence, financial distress has occurred both in industrial countries and emerging market economies where price instability was not an issue. This has been apparent in the period since the extensive liberalisation of the financial industry, which started in the early 1980s.
Recently, there have been some positive signs in the euro area economy, mainly reflecting financial-market developments and confidence indicators. Those so-called "green shoots" suggest that the economy may be stabilizing. It is important to keep in mind, however, that, if stabilization is indeed taking place, it is at a very low level of activity.