Finally, inflation targeting, our monetary policy framework, is forward-looking, and the only way to establish accountability is to be transparent about the commitment to promote price stability. Central banks, however, did not embrace transparency (and necessarily communication) only because they were forced to do so. Increased transparency and greater communication have their benefits.
China’s dependency ratio – the ratio of people of non-working age to people of working age – is expected to start rising again by 2015 at the latest. This means that the number of people who cannot save and can only consume – the youngest and oldest sections of the population – will increase.