ANDREW CROCKETT
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this Per Jacobsson lecture. The Per Jacobsson Foundation was established, as you probably know, more than 40 years ago in honor of the third Managing Director of the IMF, Per Jacobsson, who, prior to his tenure at the IMF, had been, for maybe two decades, chief economist at the BIS.
Since 1964, there have been annual lectures in this series, which have, fortunately for us, brought us a very distinguished range of speakers. I see from the audience today that there is considerable anticipation for this year’s speaker.
On my left is Leo Van Houtven, who is the President of the Foundation. I am Andrew Crockett and I chair the Board of Directors of the Foundation.
Our guest this afternoon really needs no introduction. Before his current career in the media—[Laughter]—he served for nearly two decades as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. And as many of you will know, before that he chaired President Ford’s Council of Economic Advisors. He has also served on a number of very important commissions in the public sector and had a distinguished career as a business economist.
I do not think there is any need for me to say more. You have come here to hear what he has to say. So, without any further ado, let me ask Alan Greenspan to address us. [Applause]