Second: In order to reap the benefits of new technology, enterprises must be able to make rapid changes in their workforces. 9 However, at a more fundamental level, growth and restructuring capacity is closely linked to the level of skills in a population. European surveys indicate that there is a high level of science and technology skills among the adult population. 10 Surveys among pupils and students do not provide an equally positive picture. A report from the Norwegian Mathematics Council shows that the level of mathematical skills among new university students has declined markedly in recent years. 11 Even the top performing students score considerably lower than earlier. This is illustrated here as the percentage of correct answers in arithmetic and percent calculation, but we find similar scores for other mathematical skills. Norway is taking an economic risk in allowing the skills level to decline. But – to take a brighter view of this: We have after all experienced that negative trends can be reversed in very important areas of society. Our most important resource is our labour force. The employment rate is high in Norway. This is because many wish to participate in working life, and the vast majority find a job. However, the Norwegian labour market also has its weak points. The annual number of person-years worked is lower in Norway than in the US and the rest of Europe.
The implementation of Basel II will pose a challenge to the entire  BIS Review 42/2006  1  financial community, while for the newly emerging economies this process will be a serious test since their banking systems are very much open. The discussion of the common supervisory framework also brings forward the question as to what extent the high rates of growth of credit for the private sector, globally, and in many of the dynamically developing countries, in particular, poses a risk to financial stability and how much supervisory policy could be used as a tool for solving this problem. The process of financial sector globalisation, which I already mentioned, raised for many countries the issue of choosing between either following a national monetary policy or joining a monetary union and carrying monetary policy to a supranational level. The experience of a successful realisation of the Economic and Monetary Union in Europe, as well as the experience of the countries from the area of the Frank are a good practical example for all of us about the potential advantages and challenges associated with a country's participation in a monetary union. Taking monetary policy to a supranational level is inevitably related to providing greater independence for the national central banks and delegating certain powers at a supranational level. In the democratic world, the independence of conducting policy on the part of central banks is inseparably linked to the higher degree of their transparency and reporting.