evidence: Global Economic and Financial Developments in the 1990s and Implications for Monetary Policy -- Address by Flemming Larsen Deputy Director of Research [...] The 1990s have seen great achievements for global policy makers but also a number of new challenges associated with significant changes in the working of the global economy and in the nature of international economic and financial linkages. Among the achievements the reestablishment of broad price stability in the industrial countries stands out as a particularly remarkable accomplishment and there has also been impressive progress in fiscal consolidation in many countries. But as we have seen, however necessary these two conditions are for safeguarding reasonably robust and stable economic growth, they are clearly not sufficient. Eliminating fiscal and monetary policy shortcomings addresses the source of some macroeconomic disturbances but certainly not all. Indeed, it is now generally accepted that the private sectors' decisions—even when they are taken in the context of well functioning and undistorted markets—can result in booms and busts.