This double-dip recession has pushed us off the growth path we were on just five years back and halted the process of real convergence. GDP per capita in Spain currently stands at 90% of the euro area average, after having exceeded 95% in 2007. Or, if you prefer, production per capita, after rising notably in the pre-crisis years, today scarcely exceeds the levels of a decade ago. Fortunately, the latest data support expectations of a gradual recovery of the Spanish economy, which might have already begun in the third quarter of this year according to data published by the Banco de España last week. However, the task ahead of returning to sustainable growth to place us back on track to regaining forgone prosperity remains formidable. This includes progressing further with the major reforms already undertaken in various areas, including the financial sector. In this latter field, nevertheless, the significant measures to be adopted in our country are closely linked to the regulatory reforms designed at European and international level. In fact, the crisis has underlined noticeable deficiencies in the regulatory framework of banking. I imagine that during today's seminar you will have analysed them in detail.
Indeed markets are becoming ever more important as individuals bear increasing responsibility for financing their retirements and insuring risks. It is vital markets work well - and are seen to do so. Only real markets can deliver. Real markets are resilient. They don’t collapse when the going gets tough. Real markets are fair. Participants compete on merit rather than collude online. Real markets aren’t ends in themselves but means to much greater ends. Only markets that transparently serve the real economy can retain the trust of society to operate; in other words, only real markets have social licence. The crisis and its aftermath laid bare that many of our markets didn’t live up to these standards. At times, some of the most important Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) markets proved fragile, unfair, ineffective and unaccountable. The twin crises of the solvency and legitimacy of finance undermined trust in market mechanisms and the effectiveness of the financial system. 1  Old and New London by Walter Thornbury ('Guildhall', Old and New London: Volume 1 (1878), pp. 383-396. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  It is hardly surprising that only a third of people believe markets work in the interests of society.2 The more people see, the less they like. People trust markets less with age. And yet, most people think markets will become ever more important. And they’re right. As I wrote this week to G20 Leaders, the structure of financial system has changed significantly since the crisis.