And interest rates have been lower and less volatile over this period than they have been for more than thirty years. Some people, it’s true, still say to me that all this has not had much effect on them - it’s not like it was in the boom times! And I recognise, of course, that economic conditions do vary across regions and sectors and between individual companies. More than ever before it’s a tough competitive world. But what most people say to me these days is that steady growth and low inflation is exactly what they want so that they can make rational, long-term, decisions in their own businesses, which is what enables them to face the global competition. The major preoccupations that I hear are about whether our recent, more stable, economic environment will continue, and about the implications - good or bad - for that environment of a move to a single European currency. Let me say a word first about our domestic economic prospects before turning to Europe. In fact, Mr. Chairman, we set out the Bank’s views on the domestic economy at some length in our quarterly Inflation Report only last month. But in summary we have seen a gradual pick-up in the pace of activity over the past year, driven by domestic demand - notably consumer spending - so that the money supply and both demand and output are now growing at above-trend rates. Other things equal we would expect that to continue.
However we need to acknowledge that the benefits of globalisation have been very unevenly distributed, even in the most developed economies where many wage earners have not seen a real increase in wages for decades and have lost their jobs and security. This is what populism feeds on whilst certainly not offering solutions intended to ensure social justice. Economic growth is only a means to the ultimate end of providing a higher standard of living and confidence about the future for all citizens. But it is an absolutely necessary means. Page 8 of 8