An increase in the capital stock is necessary to achieve faster growth today and to eliminate inflationary pressure;  –  reduce the constraints on labour. In an economy, in which 42% of businesses are at present indicating that they are encountering serious recruitment difficulties, especially for skilled labour, it is necessary to not only step up training and education efforts, but also to accept the extensive use of overtime in all sectors where there is a labour shortage. Moreover, the increase in Europe’s employment ratio from 61% today to 70% in ten years time, decided upon at the European Council meeting in Lisbon in order to expand the labour force, is particularly opportune and reveals a profound change in attitude;  –  actively seek productivity improvements, which lie at the very heart of economic growth. Now is the time to embrace technical progress, the digital revolution, new information and communication technologies, biotechnology and material sciences. In a French and a European economy characterised up to now by lower productivity growth than in the United States since 1995, this openness to technical progress and rapid productivity enhancement is a crucial factor if we are to achieve our ambitions of faster growth today, durably low inflation and robust, sustainable growth. BIS Review 55/2000  4
To achieve this, after raising interest rates to close to the "neutral interest rate" of 2% in December, we are now embarking on the second phase towards monetary stabilisation: ideally, it would be good to reach the right "terminal rate" by next summer, but it is still too early to say what that level will be. We need to remain pragmatic and to be guided by observed data, including on core inflation, without getting fixated on overly mechanical rate hikes. We will then be prepared to remain at this terminal rate for as long as necessary: the sprint to raise interest rates in 2022 is now becoming more of a long-distance race, and the duration will count at least as much as the level. In parallel, we shall continue to focus on maintaining financial stability, helped by the strong resilience of French banks and insurers. In Europe, 2023 needs to be the year when Basel III is transposed into EU law and the Solvency II review is completed. Regarding crypto-assets, the disruption seen in 2022 is nourishing one basic conviction: France should switch as soon as possible to the compulsory authorisation of DASPs (digital asset service providers) rather than simply requiring their registration. And this needs to happen well before MiCA enters into force, to create the necessary framework of trust. 2) Less protection and more adaptation. The government can cushion the energy shock temporarily, but it cannot make it disappear.