Hans Tietmeyer, president of the Bundesbank, tells a story in which a computer is asked to choose the governor of the future European Central Bank. The computer has no doubt - it should be Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve in Washington. He alone, says the computer, has the required experience of running monetary policy in a large currency area, consisting of many different states, joined together in political union. Apart from giving some insight into how the Bundesbank views the link between monetary and political integration, this story is interesting because it encapsulates a feeling becoming widespread in Europe - that we have a lot to learn from the way in which monetary policy has recently been conducted in the US. Two new publications compare countries on the basis of environmental and quality of life indicators.The United Nations Human Development Report and a survey from the OECD include indicators ranging from inequality and unemployment to crime rates and greenhouse gas emissions.. The group claims it is the first such project to be run by local people for themselves. The measures used, piloted by Judith Matthews, an academic at the University of Plymouth, will range from unemployment to the incidence of asthma, water quality and damsel fly numbers.The West Devon initiative is part of a trend that has started to filter through to more conventional assessments.

Citizens in one part of Britain are challenging the assumption that economic activity is the best guide to quality of life, writes Diane Coyle. The West Devon Environmental Network today launches a project to measure well-being using a mixture of conventional economic statistics and environmental indicators. It forecasts a pick-up of 4.2 per cent following 3 per cent spending growth this year.Services and consumer-related industries remain concentrated in London and the South-east, which means they will enjoy the fastest overall GDP growth, at 3.7 and 3.4 per cent, respectively next year.. Dr Blake said: "Despite big variations in regional performance of manufacturing industry, the differences in overall economic growth rates will not be as great as we would once have expected. The weakness of manufacturing industry is being masked by strengthening consumer spending, and a greater spread of service industry locations means that the benefits will be seen more widely than in the 1980s."The consultancy shares Chancellor Kenneth Clarke's optimism about consumer spending next year. The one exception to the rule is the North, which has high inward investment, but has been held back by depressed metals and chemicals industries.However, the report says regional differences are not as sharp as they once were.

Subsequent efforts to re-open negotiations with Dutch insurance group Robeco, second in the queue, were short-lived.For Goldman the acquisition is an attempt to catch up with its "bulge bracket" rivals, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.Peter Sutherland, chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International, said: "We look forward to a long and successful relationship with the two Coal pension schemes."Analysts said Goldman had until now concentrated on the low-margin business of short-term money market funds.. Investment by foreign firms is helping manufacturing industry in some regions escape the weak national trend. Scotland, Wales, the East Midlands and Northern Ireland have escaped the recession afflicting manufacturing since late last year. Goldman did not name a figure, but it is understood that the price was pounds 40m-pounds 50m. The deal promotes Goldmans into the ranks of the world's top 25 money managers, with $85bn under management. Fund management companies have been at a premium, particularly in London, since investment banks realised that fund management was vital in smoothing volatile earnings from their traditional securities and corporate finance activities.Goldman refused to say how much it had paid for CINMan.British Coal's attempts to wind down its activities since the sale of its mining business in 1994 have been hit by crises at CINMan.