It is necessary that the people affected by them receive support to enable them to make a living in other industries and in other regions. However, despite the difficulties experienced by some people, these changes have on the whole led to improvements. A lot of work remains to be done to liberalise world trade, which is indicated by the fact that the potential increases in wealth from continued liberalisation are substantial. Calculations made by the World Bank indicate that welfare gains of between USD 400 and 900 billion could be made if all of the current trade barriers were removed. More than half of these gains would fall to poor countries. The agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, where the poorest countries have their largest comparative advantages, would account for 70 per cent of the profits, that is to say, USD 230 billion. For comparison purposes, it can be mentioned that total foreign aid amounts to USD 60 billion a year, while the OECD countries’ total agricultural subsidies are USD 330 billion a year. Increased trade liberalisation is therefore a better means of achieving wealth than foreign aid could ever be, because, to paraphrase the Chinese proverb, “if you give your friend a fish you will feed him for a day, but if you allow him to fish he will be able to feed himself for a lifetime”.
I would thus like to share with you now some thoughts on the nature of these challenges and the contribution that central banks can make to address them effectively. 1.The digitisation of the economy and its challenges for sovereignty A- The digitisation of the economy has led to a profound change in financial ecosystems. The development of an Internet-based network economy has provided businesses with more direct access to consumers, while reducing the fixed costs of launching and operating services This change has gone hand in hand with changing lifestyles and increased expectations in terms of simplicity, availability, immediacy and even personalisation of services. This is commonly referred to as the “customer experience". The emergence of digital banks, where interaction with the customer is mainly carried out via a mobile application, is an example of a response to this new standard in terms of practices. Changing patterns in practices have also prompted some companies to position themselves between customers and traditional service providers in very specific segments in order to offer value-added services. This “re-intermediation” has given rise in Europe to a continuous adaptation of regulations in order to regulate and secure data sharing, which is the driving force behind open banking. This trend benefits both relatively small players (FinTechs) and technology giants whose business model is based on the monetisation of data (Gafams and BATX, whose entry into the European market is more recent). These changes are the natural result of a process of creative iteration, and promise to simplify practices by diversifying them.