I am delighted to extend to you all a very warm welcome to the 2016 Bank of Korea International Conference, held in Seoul on May 30-31. Under the main theme of “Employment and Growth,” this year's conference will cover a variety of issues including the related roles of macroeconomic policy and structural reforms.
Considerable time has passed since the global financial crisis, but the global economy has continued to experience sluggish growth and we have seen no marked recovery as yet. GDP growth rates in most advanced economies are well below their pre-crisis levels, and potential growth rates are being revised repeatedly downward across the globe. Given the length of this ongoing period of low growth, intense debates have arisen over its causes, although most arguments have too many limitations to be accepted as a well-grounded theory. As the low growth continues, however, the possibility that shocks from the crisis may have damaged economic fundamentals more severely than expected has drawn attention. And recently there are studies identifying structural factors, such as chronic shortages of effective demand and stagnations in productivity and innovation, as among the causes of this low growth.
Along with this ongoing sluggishness in global growth, employment conditions are showing even more disappointing trends. Analysis shows that, despite the decline in employment having been the steepest since the 1930s Great Depression, the paces of job market recovery, particularly in advanced economies, have been the slowest ever.
As the slump in employment conditions has persisted for a long time, concerns are mounting about the possibility of growth continuing. And academics and policy authorities are devoting greater attention to sustainable and balanced growth, looking in particular into an expansion in the role of employment in an attempt to find solutions.
Against this backdrop, the aim of this year’s BOK International Conference is to help in the transition to a new growth paradigm and in establishing the related role of employment under the “new normal” since the crisis. To this end we are holding several sessions to enable in-depth discussions of the major issues. In Sessions 1 and 2 we will talk about changes in the relationship between growth and employment since the crisis, from both the supply and demand sides of the labor market. In Sessions 3 and 4 we will discuss macroeconomic policy and structural reforms to establish a virtuous cycle between employment and growth. The final panel session will be dedicated to summarizing the discussion results and proposing policy directions. I hope that this conference, by focusing on the role of employment as a source of growth, will serve as a valuable platform for finding solutions that will ensure sustainable growth.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all conference participants. I wish to also thank Professors Thomas J. Sargent and Barry Eichengreen for their thoughtful advice and the conference organizers at the Bank of Korea. I welcome you all once again, and wish you the most enjoyable stay in Seoul.
- Juyeol Lee
- Governor
- The Bank of Korea
