And finally, we must take account of new public goods in international agreements. II. Global public goods and development Global public goods – notably climate and social inclusiveness – are a matter of concern for all: politically they create rising expectations, and economically they generate externalities. Deficient provision of these goods can have huge disruptive effects on economic, financial, and social systems, with large welfare costs, still more in developing countries. The simple truth is that we have underestimated these expectations, for too long. The so called “Washington consensus” was economically sound, but socially too weak. Nothing sustainable is achieved without a strong economy, so let’s stick to that mandate. But globalisation has often been viewed as having mainly benefited large corporates – and their tax avoidance – as the prosperous, globally mobile class – and the rapid growth of their income. Inequalities between countries – in particular between the North and the South – have fortunately decreased, those within countries have increased. And younger generations are demanding that we ensure the protection of the planet. A lot has been achieved in recent years. For instance, the BWI have contributed to the significant reduction of poverty at the global level: since 1990, the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide has dropped by 1.1 billion. But much remains to be done.
Mario Draghi: Global and domestic inflation Speech by Mr Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, to the Economic Club of New York, New York City, 4 December 2015. *  *  *  Over the past years, central banks across advanced economies have provided unprecedented support to our economies, and the results are being felt. Output has been put back on an upward path. Growth is strengthening. The output gap is gradually closing, as is the case in the euro area, or in some cases it is closed already. Insofar as monetary policy is intended as a macroeconomic stabilisation policy, it is succeeding. But our mandate is not phrased in terms of real growth. It is phrased in terms of price stability. And there, success is not achieved yet. Inflation remains low everywhere, lower than our objectives require. And medium- to long-term inflation expectations have been less steady for some time, and also generally lower than our objectives. To some extent this apparent disconnect between real and nominal developments is an expression of lags in the transmission process. But it has also triggered suggestions that perhaps central banks are unable to fully control the trend in inflation – either because they lack the appropriate tools, or because inflation in any one economy is driven to a large extent by global factors outside their control. I would dispute entirely the notion that we are powerless to reach our objective.