European Central Bank
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Question marks over the ECB’s governance
When Sabine Lautenschlaeger became the fourth representative of Germany on the ECB governing bodies to resign on former President Mario Draghi’s watch, the issues of his legacy and the collegiality in the EU’s central bank have come to the fore. Growing doubts over the bank’s stimulus policies combined with ignoring dissenters among the bank’s governors and executive board members bode ill for longer-term effectiveness of this critical Europan institution. New ECB President Christine Lagarde may not yet appreciate the problem.
GIS Dossier: Monetary policy stood on its head
Unconventional monetary policies saved many financial institutions in the U.S. and Europe after the financial crisis. However, near-zero to negative interest rates and central banks’ massive debt-purchasing programs, which pumped trillions of dollars and euros into economies, failed to restore growth and have had potent, negative and lasting side-effects. Relaxing ...
The political corruption of monetary policy
The 2008 U.S. housing crash and the European debt crisis led many politicians to question the importance of independent central banks. However, this approach is not without consequences. There are now several patterns of influence on central banks, ranging from direct political meddling to more subtle institutional pressure. Left unchecked, ...
Low interest rates: How long will savers be penalized?
Low, near-zero and negative interest rates around the world are depriving savers of potential earnings. Just a couple of years ago, it seemed as if a normalization of interest rates was on the horizon. Now, however, economic and political realities portend a “low-for-long” scenario. In fact, central bankers – in ...
The euro and the German constitution
Two legal challenges to the EU central bank’s most controversial policies have been working their way through Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, the country’s supreme court equivalent. In one of the cases, the justices in Karlsruhe already ruled that the authority of the EU Banking Union ought to be limited. ...
