And in terms of confidence effects, it would be a mistake to underestimate the resilience of the American people in the face of adversity. Either way I can assure you that the monetary authorities around the world are actively co-operating to minimise the immediate damage, and that they will certainly be monitoring - continuously and very closely - the emerging evidence of more lasting effects. They will react to that evidence in the light of the likely impact on their own situation. The US slowdown came at a particularly bad time for Japan. Japan was already suffering from a combination of weak domestic demand - particularly consumer demand - and supply-side constraints reflecting pressures on the banking system, heavily burdened with non-performing loans, as well as an acknowledged need for restructuring parts of the non-financial sector. Japan has pretty well exhausted the scope for macro-economic stimulus. Successive fiscal packages focussed on public works, and a sustained period of attempted monetary expansion, at near-zero interest rates in the face of deflation, have failed to overcome a high rate of precautionary saving by an ageing population facing an uncertain economic future. The policy emphasis of the new Japanese administration appears to have shifted towards firmer action to bring about supply-side reform in the belief that this will help to engender greater business and consumer confidence.
The Fintech Hub together with the FCA have just conducted the first survey of regulated firms’ applications of AI. The survey aims to establish a consistent picture of the state of deployment and readiness within financial services. This includes understanding how advanced firms are in their deployment of AI and what specific business lines they are applying it to. Deepening our understanding will help us work out where policy can support the safe and productive deployment of AI in finance. Conclusion My time today only allows me to give a partial picture of the Bank’s work on fintech. Even so, I hope the examples I have given have illustrated the breadth and depth of our commitment to enabling innovation, empowering competition and embracing fintech in a safe and effective way, as well as the role of the Bank’s Fintech Hub in driving that. 11  See https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/cn/Documents/technology/deloitte-cn-tech-ai-and-you-en-170801.pdf See https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/documents/marketing-whitepapers-ebooks/third-party-whitepapers/en/artificialintelligence-banking-risk-management-110277.pdf 12  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5