Since the beginning of the recovery, the number of people employed in the euro area has risen by 9.2 million. Euro area unemployment declined to 8.1% in August, its lowest level in almost ten years. Consumer spending is being driven by steady growth in households’ real disposable income. Strong labour markets – with increasing job creation and rising wages – boost household income and, in turn, consumer spending. The investment outlook remains solid on the back of robust demand, improving profitability and favourable financing conditions. Since the end of 2014, bank lending rates in the euro area have declined significantly, by around 130 basis points for non-financial corporations and by around 110 basis points for households. Lending rates on very small loans, which can be used as a proxy for loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have fallen by more than 210 basis points. This is encouraging, as SMEs provide two-thirds of total private sector employment in the euro area. Overall, the underlying strength of domestic activity in the euro area continues to support a sustained adjustment in inflation. According to the flash estimates, HICP inflation increased to 2.1% in September, from 2.0% in August. On the basis of the latest oil futures prices, headline inflation is expected to hover around the current level for the rest of the year. Our most recent projections foresee annual headline inflation at 1.7% in 2018 and in each of the two subsequent years.
He worked on economic reconstruction in Afghanistan, and on coordination of financial policy with the G7 countries. All in all, an impressive job. Currently, John is a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance, which aims at improving the functioning of the global financial architecture and governance. No less fascinating is John Taylor the teacher in both ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ terms. On the one hand, he has given countless speeches, hundreds of lectures, written several Page 3/4  textbooks and developed online courses. On the other hand, he is known for mixing teaching with entertainment. Indeed, John does not hesitate to use special didactic techniques to help students understand or remember material. During his classes, to cite just one example, John enters into a humorous dialogue with Adam Smith, revealing deep enthusiasm and dedication to the job. And by the way, this example is quite remarkable for someone who describes his humour “as mostly deadpan”, so that it generally takes a few lectures before his students are able to figure out when something is actually a joke. Having talked about John’s three occupations separately, I should emphasise how well they interact and stimulate one another. Research is integrated into college lectures; government work has enabled him to understand policy constraints, while this in turn has stimulated research. “Economic research,” John once wrote, “is most exciting and productive when it is policy-driven.” Karl Brunner could not have agreed more.