The second part of this year’s theme, “all things are in flux and nothing remains”, is somewhat more difficult for me to subscribe to. Being a central banker, it is almost against my basic instinct to see all things as being in flux and that nothing remains. By nature, central bankers are strongly in favour of smooth and stable developments.
However, this does not imply that we are against change. For example, the movement towards European Economic and Monetary Union is a fundamental change from the past. What is important is that changes which have a significant impact on monetary and economic developments are embedded in structures of stability. The combination of policy impact and stability, that is the crucial issue for central bankers.