Jan F Qvigstad: Writing central bank and monetary history – what are the issues? Welcome remarks by Mr Jan F Qvigstad, Deputy Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at a workshop co-organised by The Graduate Institute, Geneva and Norges Bank, Oslo, 30 October 2008. *  *  *  Dear participants, It is a great pleasure for me to welcome all of you to the first workshop in Norges Bank’s Bicentenary Project. In particular I want to express a warm welcome to those of you who have travelled far. Norges Bank and the Graduate Institute here in Geneva are privileged to host a workshop with such a distinguished group of international experts in central bank and monetary history from academic institutions and from the central bank community all over Europe and from the US. The financial crisis that was unleashed in the US more than a year ago went into uncharted waters on 15 September this year. Since then G7, IMF and governments all over the world have taken active policy measures that hopefully will steer the financial world into smoother water, although the real economy probably will be in dire straits the next year or two. It might seem strange, and a bit of an intellectual escapism in this situation, to gather here in Geneva to discuss economics in a hundred year perspective.
Stefan Ingves: Financial stability is important for us all Speech by Mr Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, to the Riksdag Committee on Finance, Stockholm, 15 March 2012. *  *  *  Today, I would like to give you a few examples from Sweden and abroad to illustrate why financial stability affects us all, not least in our role as consumers. It can easily happen that discussions of bank regulations, not least at the EU level, can be considered difficult to understand. This is partly because the discussions are often technical, and partly because they can seem abstract. I would like to demonstrate how the political framework for financial stability very strongly affects Swedish banking customers – in other words, almost all households. Crises cost society enormous amounts As financial crises are very costly for the citizens of a society, we should try to avoid them at almost any price. The financial system forms the cornerstone of a modern economy. Its basic functions are converting savings to investments, managing risks and mediating payments, functions that we all constantly come into contact with every day, in one way or another. A functioning financial system is also necessary for the repo rate, which is to say monetary policy, to have an impact. A modern society cannot do without the functions of the financial system. Without the financial sector, Sweden would grind to a halt. But the system also entails risks. Banks are dependent on confidence, are highly leveraged and are thus vulnerable.