Monitoring current and prospective levels of total government outlays relative to GDP or a similar indicator would help the Congress ensure that the overall size of the government relative to the economy is consistent with members' views and preferences. Second, the annual budget deficit reflects only near-term financing needs and does not capture longterm fiscal imbalances.
The regulatory challenges for European financial markets arise from a combination of necessary adaptations to general technological developments such as, for instance, electronic money - an issue addressed in the lectures of this conference - and the specific problems that arise from the integration of regulatory regimes that have previously been separated by national boundaries and different legislation into a framework that works efficiently for a newly integrated financial market with a single currency.