In other words, economic agents and financial market participants expect the ECB to ensure price stability over the medium and long term whatever the amplitude of the short-term impact of the various shocks it has to cope with. They trust our commitment to stability. This is expressed most clearly by the issue of eurodenominated bonds with a maturity of 30 and even 50 years, the yields of which stand at a remarkably moderate level. For example, a 50-year French government bond maturing in 2055 currently yields 4.1%. This implies confidence into the stability of the euro – in its function as a store of value – extending beyond more than one generation. Cash changeover and price increases I know that in Germany and in other countries in the euro area the introduction of euro cash in 2002 was “associated” with price increases. Was the euro “a Teuro”? There were some price increases in the course of the cash conversion. The statistics office of the European Union – Eurostat – estimates that the cash conversion added between 0.12% and 0.29% to the inflation rate in the euro area in 2002. This was overall small in 2002 and negligible over the ten years of the euro. Also to be noted is the discrepancy between the “felt” inflation and the actual, statistically measured inflation. This discrepancy cannot be attributed to a measuring error in the consumer price statistics. These statistics are of high quality.
There are also continued financial challenges for families here as indicated by the New York Fed’s measures of credit conditions. As of the end of 2013, average debt per person was about $ in Brooklyn – little changed over several years. At the same time, the Borough’s delinquency rate on that debt is now 11.6 percent, much higher than the state average and more than double the national average. What’s more, the mortgage crisis continues to take a toll on local homeowners. As of the end of 2013, more than 11 percent of mortgage debt in Brooklyn was 90-plus days delinquent, again significantly higher than the New York State and national delinquency rate. I also want to make a few comments about the impact of Superstorm Sandy. While areas of the New York City metropolitan region were hard hit by the storm, the devastation was particularly severe along the waterfronts of Brooklyn – and in particular in southern Brooklyn and neighborhoods like Red Hook. We saw and heard about the devastation of the storm from many of those affected, including a number of our own employees as well as other residents we met at a series of assistance clinics we organized in response to the storm. Those already living close to the edge financially were particularly vulnerable as were the City’s public housing residents. Still, Brooklyn’s economy showed resilience: while employment did drop in November 2012, it bounced back strongly the next month and accelerated during the spring of 2013, reaching new highs.