This is a problem that affects not only the governments and authorities in the countries suffering crises. The arrangements for crisis management, like the supervision, affect the business conditions the banks work under. An efficiently-functioning safety net comprises a form of "quality label” on the bank system. This in turn has significance for the banks’ ability to attract customers and financiers. If legislators and authorities cannot supply this, the domestic market will lose out in competitiveness compared with other markets. The fact that there is currently a lack of joint regulations for crisis management within the EU is therefore a problem, also from the banks' perspective. Possible solutions I have now come to the fourth and final part of my speech, the part about possible solutions to the problems. Regulations, supervision and crisis management need to be developed so they can function even when banks have cross-border operations. The aim is to form a framework that can supply the need for financial stability, both nationally and internationally. It is equally important to ensure that regulations and institutional arrangements are designed so that the financial integration process can continue and the competitiveness of the European bank sector can thereby be strengthened. Considerable thought is being put into these issues at EU level right now. Some measures have already been taken. For instance, the need for a more efficient and uniform supervision of banks with cross-border operations has partly been met by giving the supervisory authority in the group’s home country strengthened powers and increased responsibility for coordination.
The salaries of these workers are especially sensitive to the cycle. Along with the high turnover rates, this facilitates cost adjustment in companies and cushions the impact of negative shocks on hiring. The results indicate that individual salaries are more flexible than what appears in aggregate statistics, emphasizing the importance of having real-time microdata to detect the evolution of inflationary pressures and thus help in monetary policy decision making. 3. Despite the adjustment capacity of the labor market, periods of weakness have significant associated costs. In particular, the process of reallocation to better quality jobs and more productive firms is diminished in the lower part of the cycle. For some workers, especially those in the early years of their working life, its effects can be very persistent. 17