Ladies and gentlemen I am delighted to be here today in Seoul to address such a distinguished audience. I would like to thank Governor Rhee for inviting me to give this keynote speech. The topic of this year’s Bank of Korea International Conference – ‘The Evolution of the Natural Interest Rate and Its Implications for the Global Economy’ – could not have come at a better time. Monetary tightening over the past two years has lifted policy rates and longerterm interest rates from their historical lows. There are reasons to believe that some of the structural drivers of real interest rates have also changed direction in ... (full story)