Whereas banks have clearly taken to heart my remarks on "lazy banking" on the asset creation side, they have not matched this creditable performance on the liability side. Dare I repeat the same expression! An important question that arises logically is: has commensurate financial deepening been taking place at the micro-level?
*  *  *  I would like to warmly welcome you to this conference on “The Crisis in the Euro Area”. That such a conference is taking place here seems to be especially appropriate. After all, Greece is the country where the euro crisis started and which, for much of the past several years, has been at the epicenter of the crisis.