I’m aware of the risk of showing optimism amid the crisis, in the same way that during the bubble whoever dared denounce the imbalances being built up was called a pessimist. But I hope my optimism is qualified by my reminder that complacency, that is to say believing that we have already done everything that has to be done and that nobody can teach us any lessons, is the arch-enemy in the battle to exit the crisis. To earn the confidence provided by the knowledge that Spain has been capable of adjusting and reforming during these years of crisis, I have chosen two examples. First, the rapid improvement in our current-account balance; and second, the headway during these years in restructuring our banking system. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  As is well known, under normal conditions the current-account balance is very easy to finance in a monetary union, but its size is a good indicator of two of the deepest imbalances that came about in Spain during the expansionary phase: the explosion in debt and the loss of competitiveness. Indeed, from 1996 credit began to outpace gross domestic product, doing so systematically until 2006, when its annual growth peaked: at a rate of over 25% for total credit, and more than 40% for credit extended to real estate development activities. Over the same period, Spanish CPI growth was systematically higher than that of the euro area.
John C Williams: The economic recovery - are we there yet? Remarks (via videoconference) by Mr John C Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Women in Housing and Finance 2021 Annual Symposium, 4 May 2021. * * * As prepared for delivery Hello, everyone. I’m pleased to join you today. While virtual meetings like these do have some benefits—I haven’t gotten stuck in Midtown Manhattan traffic or experienced a flight delay in over a year—I know we are all looking forward to meeting again in person when it’s safe to do so. During this pandemic, we have now made an entire trip around the sun, and then some. The events since March of last year have been devastating on many levels. The ongoing human toll is a tragedy we will never forget. The shutdown of a wide range of everyday economic and social interactions posed tremendous challenges to families, businesses, and communities. And this extraordinary public health crisis has also had profound economic consequences across the globe. Of course, we continue to be affected by the pandemic in so many ways. But if you look out your window today, the view is very different than it was a year ago. Now, more than half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, and millions more are receiving vaccines every week.