Compared with those published in September, the December staff projections contained an appreciable upward revision in the average inflation rates for 2023 and 2024 to 6.3% and 3.4%, respectively, and also envisaged inflation averaging 2.3% in 2025 (the last year of our projection horizon), above our 2% medium-term target. Importantly, the ECB/Eurosystem staff projections incorporate a number of financial indicators that reflect market expectations of our future monetary policy. A key indicator here is the risk-free yield curve, which is strongly influenced by investors’ views o n the future path of our key interest rates. The risk-free yield curve also plays a central role in the transmission of monetary policy to the economy, because the financing conditions of economic agents (households, firms, governments) are often linked to medium and longterm risk-free interest rates. This is why the staff projections use as an input the path of both short and long-term interest rates implied by the curve. It is also why the ECB, like many other central banks, typically accompanies its decisions on (short-term) interest rates with communication on how it intends, or expects, to set the latter – and other policy instruments – in the future, as this improves its ability to steer the yield curve and thus attain the desired overall monetary policy stance. Therefore, the inflation path in the December staff projections was a clear indication that the financial conditions prevailing before that meeting were inconsistent with a timely return of inflation to our 2% target.
An excellent example of Ben’s interdisciplinary work is his book ‘The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth’, published in 2005. Economists have written countless papers on how to increase growth. But very few have addressed the question of why growth is desirable in the first place, in particular for societies that are already rich. Ben’s book fills this gap. It argues that economic growth improves the moral character of society. People tend to be more generous and tolerant towards each other when the economy grows. Economic stagnation, on the other hand, is associated with repression and bigotry. Ben’s latest book, ‘Religion and the Rise of Capitalism’, was published last year. It describes how religion has shaped economic thinking since the beginning of our discipline. The early economic thinkers of the European Enlightenment, such as Adam Smith, were not committed to religion. Ben argues, however, that their world view was profoundly influenced by developments in religious thinking. There is therefore a close connection between religion and the beginning of modern capitalism. With this I would like to conclude my remarks, since you are surely eager to learn more about this fascinating topic from Ben himself. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Benjamin Friedman with a big round of applause. Page 4/4