13 I. Dierickx and K. Cool (1989), “Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage”, Management Science, vol. 35, pp. 1504-1511. 15/18  restructuring of government organisations engaging in innovation so as to exploit synergies between them. The government research assessment systems could also be redesigned to ensure that the allocation of funds to research centres reflects their academic excellence14 and a public-private collaboration framework could be developed in which the private sector can efficiently channel government funds through the design of well-defined incentives. The demographic challenge: population ageing The challenges associated with slow productivity growth and with the transformations resulting from the technological progress I have just described above take on even greater importance when they are framed in the context of the transition to a new demographic paradigm characterised by population ageing which, although present in many Western economies, has a particularly strong impact on Spain. The ageing challenge  Indeed, the combination of a low birth rate, high longevity and the impending retirement of the generation known as the baby boomers makes Spain one of the countries where the dependency ratio, which measures the proportion of persons at least 65 years of age to those aged from 16 to 64, is increasing most sharply. Specifically, according to the latest projections by the Spanish National Statistics Institute, the dependency ratio will grow from 29.9% in 2019 to 51.8% in 2050, i.e. it will practically double in three decades.
Another very important change was the creation of a fiscal policy framework with an amended budget process. This framework and the new process aimed to get a grip on the evolution of public expenditures while also leading  1  The Economic Commission (1993). 2  A debate about this had been taking place for a while at that point. The Swedish Centre for Business and Policy Studies (SNS) had been advocating a so-called norm-based stabilisation policy since 1985, see Heikensten and Vredin (2012) for an overview. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  to an average surplus in terms of net lending. The overall aim was to ensure that fiscal policy would have the desired long-term orientation. Flexible inflation targeting preferable – but improvements not ruled out But even though these and other changes have made the Swedish economy more reliable and resilient to shocks, we too have been affected by the events of the past few years. The global financial crisis and surprisingly low inflation have meant that a number of previously accepted truths have begun to be called into question, and led to a debate about whether the economic policy framework developed prior to the financial crisis should be modified or potentially even replaced. My view here is completely clear: it is important for us to think very carefully before we make any comprehensive changes to the Swedish economic policy frameworks.