In our monetary policy assignment of maintaining price stability in Swedish kronor, specified as inflation of around 2 per cent, we need to understand not only cyclical developments but also structural transformations in the economy. This knowledge forms a precondition if we are to be able to make good forecasts and calibrate a well-balanced monetary policy, thereby fulfilling our mandatory task. To make good forecasts, we need models, and models assume that economic relationships are stable. It therefore becomes complicated when structural changes delay or even transform old relationships. If important structural changes have occurred, they turn up as so-called shocks in the models. For example, new and better working methods should entail a positive shock in productivity. Another structural change, for example increased e-commerce, means that competition increases, putting pressure on companies’ profit margins. However, when data on productivity and companies’ profit margins is studied, it is difficult to observe larger changes. Productivity growth in recent years cannot be described as remarkably high. 1 In turn, this has an effect on wage development, which I shall return to. My point, however, is that technological shifts do not necessarily change the way the economy works. But it is nevertheless clear that technological breakthroughs can push forward changes in what have historically been fairly stable operations and open them up for new participants. For example, technological developments in society have contributed to the use of cash, the money the Riksbank offers society, going into decline.
The internal combustion engine enabled transportation independently of the rail network in the form of motor vehicles and aircraft, and electricity has given us light, warmth and the power of movement. Now, at the start of the 21st century, we have to deal with all the opportunities, but also challenges, brought by the Internet, digitalisation, robotics, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. Experts often disagree over how revolutionary these technologies will turn out to be for the economy in the long run, but we can see how they affect us in our daily lives. * I would like to thank Åsa Olli Segendorf, Anders Vredin, Marianne Sterner, Charlotta Edler och Ann-Leena Mikiver for useful suggestions for this speech  1 [5]  Take, for example, digitalisation, which is impacting sector after sector. How many record shops are there these days? Where’s the nearest video rental store? How often do you find yourself keeping an eye on the time so as not to miss a certain TV or radio programme? Increasing numbers of us subscribe to streaming music and film services, read the news on the Internet instead of in paper newspapers, listen to podcasts and use catch-up TV services and YouTube channels. It’s quite fun being a consumer these days. Also on the other side of the economy, the producing side, can we see markets being reshaped and both the number and nature of jobs being changed. My sector, the financial system, and my workplace, the Riksbank, are also being affected by these changes.