For last year’s conference, we convened in late 2021 to decide on the main conference theme. Back then, we thought it would be wise to ask whether we would see a “return of inflation” in 2022. As you know, reality sadly answered this question extremely clearly.
And the ensuing experiences of the pandemic and the past few months did much to validate this approach. The bank runs and failures in 2023, however, were painful reminders that we cannot predict all of the stresses that will inevitably come with time and chance. We therefore must not grow complacent about the financial system's resilience. And building and maintaining that resilience requires collaboration.