Jens Weidmann: Change and continuity

Speech by Dr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at Deutsche Börse's New Year's reception, Eschborn, 3 February 2020.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
04 February 2020

1 Introduction

Dear Joachim Faber,

dear Theodor Weimer,

chère Christine,

Ladies and gentlemen,

There's a saying that twice is repetition and three times is a tradition. So it is a pleasure, and a privilege, to speak to you here today in what it is my third speech at Deutsche Börse's New Year's reception. For me, this event is one of the highlights at the beginning of the new year, not least because of the impressive setting.

And it is no less gratifying to see all these familiar faces once again.

But discovering unfamiliar faces can be fascinating as well. You will have a great opportunity to do just that if you happen to come here again over the next few days. You see, when Deutsche Börse is not holding its New Year's reception in this hall, it is exhibiting photographs from its own art collection here.

Some of these pictures can be found up here on the gallery, including photos from a series taken by Christian Borchert. He took portraits of families at home, usually in their living rooms. Years later, he came back to photograph them again.

His images show how people change, yet stay the same. Things get particularly fascinating when you consider how much these families' circumstances changed.

The first pictures date back to the GDR era; the last were taken in post-reunification Germany. The shifting sands of time put us to the test, over and over again. That goes for politicians and entrepreneurs, and for central bankers, too.

We heard from Joachim Faber just now how change is impacting on Deutsche Börse's strategy.

I would like to add my own thoughts on the strategy for monetary policy.

2 Monetary policy strategy

People looking to realise their full economic potential need a stable currency.