Brzeski, C. (2015) “Calling the eurozone’s bluff?“, EU Observer Opinion, 14 Ιανουαρίου.
Next week’s events have the clear potential to plant the seeds for another eurozone crisis. Not an immediate one with sharp market turmoil, but rather a creeping one: the sneaking and growing awareness that the eurozone is far from being perfect.
On 22 January, the European Central Bank (ECB) will plant the first seed. It will be very hard, if not impossible, not to announce the famous quantitative easing (QE) – government bond purchases.
Headline inflation turned negative for the first time since 2009, inflation expectations have dropped sharply and the economy is struggling to leave stagnation.
Moreover, the amount of official ECB statements hinting at QE have put the ECB into a corner from which it cannot escape without strongly disappointing financial markets. Whether QE is currently justified or not, hardly matters any more. It is all about central bank credibility and fulfilling market expectations.
The ECB simply has to deliver.
[…]
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:
- Kirkegaard, F. J. (2014) “When Will the ECB Move on Monetary Stimulus?“, RealTime Economic Issues Watch, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 03 Δεκεμβρίου.
- Gilbert, Μ. (2014) “ECB Needs Japanese Lessons“, Bloomberg View, 05 Νοεμβρίου.
- Gros, D. (2014) “The ECB’s Faulty Weapon“, Project Syndicate, 07 Οκτωβρίου.