It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome President William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank St. Louis, Professor Otmar Issing and Mr Nout Wellink of the Governing Council of the ECB, and Counsellor Gerd Häusler of the IMF. It is an honour that Mr Stanley Fischer, Vice-Chairman of Citigroup, has found the time to be with us.
Last but not least, I am especially delighted that so many prominent members of the academic world are taking part in this conference. I wish to extend a warm welcome to Professor Alan Meltzer on their behalf. The Monetary Stability Foundation was established on 1 January this year. But the idea behind the foundation is naturally much older than that.