1  BIS Review 96/2000  Second, faith is used in everyday language as a synonym for “belief”, “reliance” and “trust”, which could perhaps be interpreted in the sense of “well-founded expectation”. In this context one could think of faith as a probabilistic statement. Immanuel Kant has associated faith with an intermediate degree of certainty, in between mere “opinion” but short of “knowledge”. On this definition my basic answer to the question becomes “yes”. At least in the example of the institution I represent, I see good reasons to believe that the public in Europe should and that it can rely on the European Central Bank to fulfil its mandate and maintain price stability. This sort of “reasoned faith” or “confidence” is (as it should be) underpinned by a sound institutional setup, the application of well-established economic principles and, last but not least, by the quality and determination of the people dedicated to this task. A third aspect of faith relates to “keeping a promise” or “engagement” as in “acting in good faith”, in the sense of reflecting “honesty of intention”. For Thomas Hobbes “to have faith”, “to trust” and “to believe a man” are synonymous. One could think of this dimension of faith as representing a twosided relationship, rather than a unilateral act of faith. From this perspective faith - or here better: trust - is similar to a contract established between two parties.
He recounts an episode when the colonial government imposed “fees” on disobedient district chiefs simply by painting black crosses on these stone wheels. This miraculously and promptly induced them to change their ways just in order to have these marks erased again and thus - in their perception - their wealth restored. Friedman concludes that this example illustrates “how important appearance or illusion or “myth”, given unquestioned belief, becomes in monetary matters. Our own money, the money we have grown up with, the system under which it is controlled, these appear “real” and “rational” to us. Yet the money of other countries often seems to us like paper or worthless metal, even when the purchasing power of individual units is quite high.” The euro has been in existence for almost two years now. It does not come in the form of stone wheels. In fact it does not yet have any concrete and tangible expression at all. Until the introduction of euro banknotes and coins at the beginning of 2002 it will essentially remain a “virtual” currency, which may perhaps seem as remote, unfamiliar and unnatural in the eyes of the public as the stone wheels described by Friedman. This lack of tangibility and visibility of the euro in part accounts for the particular challenges that the euro faces in winning the hearts of the general public as a new currency which has yet to replace the familiar and trusted national notes and coins in circulation.