Gradually, people came to realize that, if this was an intervention, it was a very limited, one-off intervention designed to keep the markets free from disruptive and ultimately destructive forces, and to prevent a possible systemic collapse. The operation was perhaps more readily understood in Hong Kong, where people welcomed the speedy return of stability and reason to the markets, and where the additional interest rate volatility imposed on the community by unbridled speculation quickly became a thing of the past: it has to be recognized that this was a community already patiently enduring a painful economic adjustment, and that the additional pain inflicted by what amounted to a gross abuse of the system was weighing heavily on their patience and confidence. More recently, and despite the edict from the Heritage Foundation that we should mend our ways or surrender our position as the world’s freest economy, international opinion has arrived at a better understanding of our motivations. The success of the operation has, I think, helped. But so too has the growing realization of the magnitude of the challenge we faced. Since August, further problems with heavily leveraged, volatile fund flows have arisen elsewhere in the world. The LTCM crisis suggested that even the largest economies and their financial systems were at risk. World leaders have unanimously called for action. Even George Soros has vaguely called for international controls on the cross-border movement of funds, which, in his recent book, he describes as threatening the disintegration of global capitalism.
Elisabeta Gjoni: Role of money in wartime Opening remarks by Ms Elisabeta Gjoni, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the Second Conference of the Museum of the Bank of Albania, Tirana, 20 September 2018. * * * Dear guests, participants, researchers, academics, numismatists, collectors, students, Welcome to the Bank of Albania! It is a special pleasure for me to open the proceedings of the Second Conference of the Museum of the Bank of Albania on “Role of money in wartime”. The rich collection of coins and banknotes and other items exhibited in our Museum becomes more meaningful when supported by the historic background of the period of the country of issue. The organisation of this Conference, an annual one, contributes to the both the historic and educational role of the Museum. This conference is also an excellent opportunity to share experiences with representatives of the main institutions of culture in Albania and museums of central banks and other prominent foreign institutions in this field. I am happy to see in this room both old and new collaborators, whom we wish to be “permanent consultants” of the Bank of Albania. We aim to create and cultivate a solid and productive relationship with the best experts in numismatics, museology, cultural heritage and research. Dear participants, Today’s presentations will address the mutual, complicated and multi-dimensional relation between money and war. Wars have had an impact on the economy and development of human kind from the birth of civilisations to modern times.