[2]  While much of the discussion today and tomorrow is and will be about the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy, I will focus on financial stability. In Europe, we have quite a unique setting: the ECB (European Central Bank)’s Governing Council takes monetary policy decisions for the whole euro area.
Conditions have also been subdued recently in the retail and wholesale sectors, largely reflecting consumers’ more cautious approach to spending. Graph 13  10  BIS central bankers’ speeches  These various shifts in the economy are occurring at a time where there is little overall spare capacity. This is quite different to the situation prevailing over most of the past 40 years.