I wonder whether the ECB’s behavior has been limited much more by its status than by the country in which it is headquartered. I suspect even more that Germany’s insistence on strict observance of ECB rules stems from a fear that any lenient interpretation will lead sooner rather than later to the total subordination of minority interests in the eurozone, i.e., the interests of savers, i.e., German interests. i. Anyway, I am afraid that the ability of economic-based reasoning to influence events is gradually declining. Future events will be influenced more and more by decisionmakers’ communications and gestures or by accidents unplanned by anybody. As an example of the latter, consider how Greece’s tourism income might develop this year and the next if its major electricity supplier occasionally switches off supplies due to payment problems, thereby shutting down air conditioning in hotels. j. But now I am straying away from the topic of imbalances, so I’d better pause to venture one final observation. Germany is currently under financial stress and is full of middle-class savers who are angered by the perceived failure of their state. This situation, I believe, has never been in the interests of my country or in the interests of Europe. Some of us may like to contemplate this a bit. Possible questions for the panelists (as I have already spoken enough I will reserve myself for the second round of Q+As): a. How has the financial crisis modified the world-wide pattern of creditor-debtor countries? b.
And, as with all the other denominations in the new series, it is narrower and shorter than the previous note. The theme of the 100-franc note is Switzerland’s humanitarian tradition, and the key motif is water. Both are reflected in the note’s core design elements. The hand and the globe are the main images on the front of the note. The hands are scooping up water, and isobars are depicted over the globe. Page 1/3  Berne, 3 September 2019 Fritz Zurbrügg  News conference on new banknotes  The back of the note shows an irrigation channel, or ‘suone’, feeding glacial meltwater down a cliff face to the fields below. A suone is a method of transporting water from high altitudes to lower-lying areas for irrigation purposes. In the past, such irrigation channels were used for land cultivation, especially in the Valais region. The image of a suone symbolises the treatment and distribution of water – a major component of Switzerland’s humanitarian and development aid effort. The key motif also plays an important role on the security strip, which features a network of waterways over the map of Switzerland, together with a list of the country’s longest rivers. The remaining security features, such as the transparent Swiss cross or the shimmering globe, are the same as those on all denominations of the new series – you will already be familiar with these.