Allow me to highlight a few. 3  IMF – International Monetary Fund; FSF – Financial Stability Forum; BCBS – Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; IOSCO - International Organisation of Securities Commissions; IAIS - International Association of Insurance Supervisors. 2  BIS Review 147/2008  First, one of the most significant lessons about the crisis is also the most basic, that is, finance needs to return to its basic function of allocating scarce capital to the most productive uses, with the capital earning an appropriate risk-adjusted return. In this regard, the underlying Shariah precept in Islamic Finance of not using capital for speculation, but to build productive capacity and generate sustainable economic growth, takes on great relevance. By adhering to this basic precept, I am confident that Islamic Finance will assume a more prominent role in the coming years. Second, whatever the forms of intermediation, we must remain focused on the types and nature of risks, and how these risks are distributed among the players. Before this crisis, the main focus was on risks posed by hedge funds. As it turns out, a large part of the risks were sitting in the core banking system, in the form of off-balance sheet items held in SIVs. Mortgage lenders which originated subprime mortgages were outside the regulatory ambit. The main lesson here is that we have to examine risks holistically, across the value chain of activities and across different asset classes and markets, and not be blinkered in pre-judging where risks sit.
Combined with high productivity growth, this has resulted in high corporate earnings and solid growth in employment. At the same time, wage-earners share of corporate value added has been reduced, from around 75 per cent at the end of the 1980s to 70 per cent at the end of the 1990s, and now  BIS Review 121/2007  1  stands at below 65 per cent. Solid productivity growth and high prices for export goods and deliveries to the petroleum sector have contributed to the reduction in the wage share over the past few years. The ample supply of labour has probably had a dampening effect on wage growth. Increased globalisation may have provided greater opportunities for Norwegian enterprises to relocate production to other countries if labour costs become too high. This probably places some restraint on wage demands among workers in sectors where enterprises have such opportunities. Historically, a high wage share has tended to be accompanied by low unemployment. Developments in recent years have provided the basis for strong growth in employment while the wage share has fallen. Is it possible to sustain the combination of low unemployment and a low wage share? First, it partly depends on whether the positive supply-side conditions are sustained. There is probably symmetry here. Should the terms of trade deteriorate, productivity growth slacken and foreign workers return to their home country, the wage share will increase, profits fall and unemployment increase. There is now a prospect of slower global growth.