Wyplosz, C. (2015) “ECB minutes: What they really tell us”, VoxEU Organisation, 02 March.
The ECB has finally begun releasing the minutes of its policymaking meetings, something the world’s major central banks have been doing since the 1990s. This column asks whether the publication of these minutes increases ECB transparency. While providing useful information on analysis at the ECB, the minutes lack the details on the actual discussions and the voting behaviour of committee members that the minutes of the Fed, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan provide. They thus constitute just the first step, albeit a very welcome one, towards ECB transparency.
For the first time, the ECB has released the minutes of its policymaking meetings. This is a new step towards ‘normalising’ a central bank that long insisted on wearing the old-fashioned mantle of the Bundesbank. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the minutes do not include any major surprise. They mainly confirm previous leaks. Yet, they are helpful for all those who strive to understand the logic of Eurozone monetary policy, whether they are academics or investors.
The world’s major central banks have long published the minutes of their monetary policy committees; the Fed started in 1993, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan in 1998. It is of independent interest why it took so long for the ECB to take that step in the face of heavy criticism, including the early debate between Buiter (1999) and Issing (1999). The usual argument against publishing the minutes is clearly stated in Issing (2013):
Relevant posts:
- Crook, O. (2015) “The ECB Should Stay Out of Politics“, BloombergView, 10 February.
- Weisbrot, M. (2015) “Greece: ECB Kicks Syriza in the Face; Syriza Turns the Other Cheek“, The Huffington Post, 05 February.
- Jeffrey D. Sachs, (2015), “The ECB’s New Macroeconomic Realism”, Project Syndicate, 23 January.