In the “Uster Memorial” document, an interest rate of 4% was considered to be appropriate; 1 well, as you know, Swiss interest rates have been considerably below this level for the past few years – so, in this respect, the SNB has fulfilled the requirements set out in Uster in 1830. A short journey through monetary history I would now like to take you on a short trip through Swiss monetary history. We will start our journey in the year 1830, and will make stop-offs at sixty-year intervals, i.e. in 1890 and 1950, before returning to the present day. Let us assume you wanted to buy a loaf of bread in the year of the Ustertag. What money would you have used to pay for it here in Uster? My question may appear simple, but the answer is anything but easy. That is because the year 1830 falls within the long multiple coinage – or multiple currency – period. In other  1  Carl Dändliker: Der Ustertag und die politische Bewegung der Dreissiger Jahre im Canton Zürich (nebst Abdruck des “Uster-Memorials” als Beilage). Zur 50-jährigen Erinnerung, Zurich 1881, p. 6 of enclosure. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  words, the currencies being used in the canton of Zurich in 1830 included guilders, batzen, shillings, thalers, hellers and angsters, just to name a few. 2 Over 300 different kinds of coins were in circulation in Switzerland, with thousands of different embossed images.
Large countries have been toughening restrictions on foreign acquisitions and flow of technologies. The US Committee on Foreign Investments objected to a record number of requests by overseas investors in 2017. The EU is planning to implement a screening framework for cross-border acquisitions. US tax reforms may potentially have adverse consequences for international trade and investment flows. The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have written to the US, warning that some provisions of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may contravene international trade agreements and tax treaties. For example, a 20% excise tax could be imposed on payments an American company makes for buying goods or services from its foreign subsidiary. We will do well not to get complacent about the return of “mama bear” because the underlying causes for populist anger and support for protectionism are deeply rooted. Income inequality in many advanced economies remains wide. According to research by McKinsey, two-thirds of households in the US and Western Europe have experienced stagnating or falling real income between 2005 and 2014. Trade and immigration are the obvious scapegoats for voters frustrated by the stagnation in living standards. The risk remains that some countries may erect trade and investment barriers and others may do so in retaliation. A protectionist spiral will almost certainly derail the growth momentum, not just for 2018 but beyond. “Baby Bear” - Financial Instability And finally, the “baby bear” of financial instability.