Moqhadam, R., Teja, R. and Berkmen P., (2014), “Euro Area – Deflation Versus Lowflation”, iMFdirect Blog, 4 March.
Recent talk about deflation in the euro area has evoked two kinds of reactions. On one side are those who worry about the associated prospect of prolonged recession. On the other are those who see the risk as overblown. This blog and the video below sift through both sides of the debate to argue the following:
- Although inflation—headline and core—has fallen and stayed well below the ECB’s 2% price stability mandate, so far there is no sign of classic deflation, i.e., of widespread, self-feeding, price declines.
- But even ultra low inflation—let us call it “lowflation”—can be problematic for the euro area as a whole and for financially stressed countries, where it implies higher real debt stocks and real interest rates, less relative price adjustment, and greater unemployment.
- Along with Japan’s experience, which saw deflation worm itself into the system, this argues for a more pre-emptive approach by the ECB.
Relevant Posts
- Claeys, G., Hallerberg, M. and Tschekassin, O. (2014), “European Central Bank accountability: how the monetary dialogue could be improved”, Bruegel, 3 March.
- Bibow, J., (2014), “On German Public Opinion And Illusional ECB Power”, Social Europe Journal, 24 February.
- Wren-Lewis, S., (2014), “How the ECB could be Radical by being Old Fashioned”, Social Europe Journal, 20 January.