Sen wondered: “How is it possible that an activity that is so useful has been viewed as being morally so  1  This text, which has also been used for a lecture in Italian at the Accademia dei Lincei, in Rome, on 8 March 2013, partly draws on “What does society expect from the financial sector?”, panel discussion remarks following the Per Jacobsson Lecture by Dr. Y. V. Reddy, in Basel, on 24 June 2012, and on “The financial crisis and economists’ forecasts”, lecture at "La Sapienza" University, Rome, on 4 March 2009 (downloadable, respectively, from http://www.bis.org/events/agm2012/sp120624_visco.htm and http://www.bis.org /review/r090423f.pdf?frames=0).
We require that the National Bank chief executive’s employment contract be between that person and the board of the National Bank, and that any amendments to the National Bank’s constitution have our consent.