There are real opportunities for leadership (across sectors, and by individual firms) to turn the dial, to drive change, to differentiate positively, to show: that the mistrust is no longer valid, that lessons have been learnt, that you have demonstrably, definitively and permanently changed, and that the behaviours and cultures by and within your firms and industries are in the long term interest of both your customers and your shareholders.
Back then, however, Germany was already able to improve its competitiveness thanks to low inflation, while rates of inflation in many other Member States were higher than that specified in our definition of price stability. Overall, though, inflation in the euro area was close to our benchmark. However, the situation today is different.