Lamfalussy Lectures Conference 2014 [antikvár]

€ FOREWORD bv Gvöm' Mafo/csv The professional conference entitled "Lamfalussy Lectures" was organised by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank for the first time in 2014. The aim of this annual event was to invite prominent speakers to Hungary to share their views on global economic policy with each other and the audience of professionals, with a special focus on current issues pertaining to monetary policy and the financial system. The figure of Sándor Lámfalussy - after whom the conference was named - symbolises the importance of Hungary's role in international economic processes. The recent global financial and economic crises dealt a serious blow to the very foundation of economics and reopened questions which were previously considered to have been resolved once and for all. In this period of paradigm shift, it is particularly important that national and international economic policy makers at the highest level exchange their views on the challenges of the newly forming economic world order. High level economic and financial integration requires European decision makers and economic opinion leaders to discuss their views, synchronise their actions and strengthen their network of relationships. The Magyar Nemzeti Bank wishes to see the "Lamfalussy Lectures" series develop into a prominent forum of economic policy on a European and global scale. The introduction of the European single currency, the euro, was one of the inajor milestones in the establishment of European unity, but the global crisis of 2008 revealed all of the structural issues and differences in development currently facing the euro area. A stable euro is needed, but financial stability also calls for further steps by euro-area member states. This presents a challenge for both crisis management and econoinic policy, as peripheral countries are in need of very different solutions compared to the most advanced euro-area member states. The main lesson we learnt was that extraordinary times require extraordinary solutions. From a European vantage point, one of the most important aspects of Lamfalussy's lifetime achievement is that the current level of integration of the European economic and monetary union, and the level of development of the financial system are the results of the sustained effort of individuals who, for decades, are able to construct theories based on seminal ideas and determined visions for the future and implement these through relentless empirical organisational work, adapting to challenges as they arise by setting up the necessary institutions. That is the spirit we need to follow in order to continue the European success story.