we can buy too few imported goods for what we export. This could be corrected by strengthening the krona through a stronger nominal exchange rate or by price increases on goods subject to competition being kept lower than those in other countries. It is sometimes claimed in the economic debate that non-recurring effects of deregulation and increased competition could be utilised by the Riksbank altering its price stability target from 2% to a lower figure. However, this would involve temporary effects influencing the target formulation, which would erase the stability in the target formulation that has an intrinsic value. It is still possible to strengthen purchasing power with an unchanged operational target formulation by a nominal appreciation of the krona. It has sometimes been claimed that the “new economy” could lead to completely new economic relations. I see no reasons for such a change. It is more likely that technological developments lead to reality approaching the simplified assumptions that form the basis of many economic models, such as a large measure of competition and low transaction costs. Thus, most of the models the Riksbank uses today would function equally well or better if structural changes were to occur more rapidly in the future. Nor do I see any reasons why the Riksbank’s intellectual framework on monetary policy would need to be fundamentally changed if we were to have a period of strong growth in productivity.
The new technology made state-regulated monopolies less expedient and led to greater difficulty in upholding the regulations on the financial markets. At the same time, the deregulation processes were an important condition for the rapid success of the new technology. It is also worth reminding ourselves that the IT sector stands outside of the traditional Swedish labour market regulations. The effects may take some time The effects we have seen so far are probably the result of better economic policy and technology introduced earlier, such as computers, networks and mobile communications. However, the large productivity gains experienced in times of major technological transformation usually due not come until the transformation has reached a stage of maturity, whereby a general spread has been achieved through the new technology being used by at least half of all households and companies. With regard to the Internet, available figures indicate that Sweden has only recently passed this stage. Achieving  3  BIS Review 93/2000  the maturity stage with its large gains in productivity also requires that companies find organisational forms that utilise the opportunities provided by the technology. Tougher international competition may bring about this type of adaptation relatively quickly, but for me it is still not evident that Sweden is at a stage where the new technology has major macroeconomic effects. Further changes The majority of the effects of information technology may thus lie ahead of us.