This paper was presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Symposium on "Monetary Policy and Uncertainty: Adapting to a Changing Economy" at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on 28-30 August 2003. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the BIS.

This paper first provides a broad overview of current conditions in the banking industry in some of the countries that will participate in European economic and monetary union. It then goes on to identify a number of important forces for change. Some of these are global in nature, but likely to...

Significant attention has recently been directed to the optimal policy response when financial excesses threaten. This paper rather addresses issues pertinent to the appropriate policy response once financial difficulties have actually materialised. It begins with some empirical evidence...

Internationally integrated capital markets can have significant effects on the way central bankers pursue both monetary (macroeconomic) and financial stability. With respect to the former, countries are being pushed into corner solutions of either "immutably" fixed exchange rates or floating....

In this paper, an attempt is made to put the changing attitudes of policymakers towards international capital flows into a broader economic and historical context. The paper then goes on to suggest that policymakers today wish, on the one hand, to achieve the benefits of freer capital flows...

This paper draws some policy lessons from recent financial crises. Three forms of financial instability are distinguished: short-term volatility, medium-term misalignments including excessive international capital flows, and contagion across both markets and countries. Some underlying factors...

This study argues that the introduction of the euro would have a more immediate and direct impact on European bond markets than on European banking markets. The single currency would create a single private yield curve in the near term and could also lead to a more integrated government bond...

The deregulation of domestic financial markets, in association with technological progress, has led to an explosion of cross-border financial transactions and the cross-border establishment of premises. In turn, this has led to a need for international agreements on how the business of...

No one in the industrial countries should now question the substantial economic benefits associated with reducing inflation from earlier, high levels. At the same time, history also teaches that the stability of consumer prices might not be sufficient to ensure macroeconomic stability. Past...

The successful pursuit of the objective of low inflation by central banks in recent decades has also delivered low variability of both inflation and output. At the same time, numerous financial and other "imbalances" (defined here as significant and sustained deviations from historical norms)...