Die Europäische Zentralbank ist der Preisstabilität verpflichtet. Ihr Ziel ist es, die Inflationsrate mittelfristig knapp unter zwei Prozent zu halten.
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The monetary policy of the European Central Bank is under fire from two sides. While one side regards the ECB’s monetary policy as too expansionary, the other holds it responsible for keeping the measured inflation rate below target.
The German Constitutional Court has rightly expressed doubts about the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and has asked the European Court of Justice for a legal review of it. This time, the case is about the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP), within which the ECB has already purchased bonds worth 1.6 trillion euros. The limits on the asset purchases have to be clarified.
After the economic recovery has strengthened and inflation rates have increased, hopes for higher interest rates emerged among savers, while debtors began to fear higher financing costs. This article argues, that there is room for higher interest rates, but this room is small compared to historical interest rate levels.
The US Federal Reserve has not raised its key interest rates despite good economic data. The new US government is likely to be satisfied with this decision, because low interest rates help to fund its planned infrastructure projects. The political pressure on the Fed is therefore likely to increase.
Despite of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) accommodative monetary policy stance, Euro Area inflation expectations remain persistently depressed. Financial intermediaries’ interest rate margins have been squeezed and the secondary market for sovereign debt is running out of bonds. As a consequence more and more European economists call for a tool of last resort – helicopter money. A contribution by Michael Hüther for The International Economy, a specialized quarterly magazine.
