This concerns the extent to which the authorities should be involved in the development of the financial infrastructure. I am sure you are aware of the huge amount of public money spent in all jurisdictions in the development of the physical infrastructure, building highways, bridges and airports to take people and goods from one place to another safely and efficiently, thus facilitating the conduct of economic activities for the benefit of all. Authorities, however, seem to devote only disproportionately small amounts of resources to the development of the financial infrastructure to move money and financial instruments from one entity to another safely and efficiently for the purpose of enhancing financial efficiency that promotes economic prosperity. To some extent, the development of the financial infrastructure can be left to the market, with SWIFT being a sterling example of private sector initiative in this area. But many of the important elements of the financial infrastructure are public goods, the provision of which, in a form that serves the public interest best, may not be financially viable for the private sector. Furthermore, the conflict I mentioned earlier often comes in, affecting the willingness or the enthusiasm of the financial intermediaries to develop and use a financial infrastructure that promotes financial efficiency.
Mr George paints a broadbrush picture of challenges and change for the markets as the year unfolds  Speech by the Rt Hon Eddie George, Governor of the Bank of England, to the Euromoney International Bond Congress at the QEII Conference Centre in London on 16 February 2000. *  *  *  It’s a pleasure, as always, to have been invited to bring proceedings at this great annual event to a close. You seem to go from strength to strength - from what I hear your sixth Congress has been as lively and interesting as its predecessors. Lively and interesting are pretty good words to describe the last twelve months in the markets too. When we were together here last year there were still plenty of clouds around. The emerging markets in Asia were still only in the early stages of patchy recovery. Russia was still fragile and there were real fears of another round of financial upset in Latin America, particularly Brazil. In the industrial countries, too, the prospects were for slow growth - some were even still forecasting recession. I concluded that we’d all need strong nerves in the year ahead. Well, by and large we kept our nerve, and the skies have brightened over the past year as the clouds of financial instability and global economic slowdown dispersed. The focus now is not on how we keep the ship afloat but how we keep her on a steadier course - which, if you’re a sailor is a comparative luxury.