Tag Archives: ECB

The announcement by the European Central Bank that it has so far made €7.8bn in profits from its holdings in Greek government debt reveals the true nature of the so-called bailouts of Greek government finances that the EU leaders organised in return for massive austerity measures from 2012 onwards.... Michael Roberts BlogBeware the ECB bearing gifts for GreeksMichael Roberts

As I said, Italy, is now experimenting with paying for public services with tax credits. Presumably, this is happening because Italy doesn’t possess enough Euros to pay its citizens to provide all the goods and services needed to maintain and run the public sector of its social economy. And Italy can’t “create” the additional Euros it needs because that prerogative is the exclusive right of the EU Central Bank which Italy, even as a sovereign member of the EU, has no control over. But, as...

ECB advisory groups are used as lobby platforms by the financial industry, Corporate Europe Observatory’s newest report shows. Published today, “Open door for forces of finance at the ECB” reveals that the advisory groups counselling the European Central Bank have become largely dominated by representatives of some of the most influential global financial corporations. European parliamentarians are urged to act. Like many other EU institutions, the European Central Bank (ECB) actively...

The Vice President of the European Central Bank, Vítor Constâncio, gave the opening speech – Developing models for policy analysis in central banks – at the Annual Research Conference, Frankfurt am Main, on September 25, 2017. Last time I heard Constâncio speak in person, in Florence 2015, he was in typical Europhile central bank denial. He thought the Eurozone was fine, a great success given the low inflation, inferring that the ECB’s conduct had something to do with that. He didn’t talk...

Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble has long been critical of ECB monetary policy,. But now, as Reuters says, the gloves are off. In a speech at a prizegiving for an ordoliberal economics foundation last Friday, Dr. Schaeuble demanded that the ECB raise interest rates.The justification? Very low interest rates hurt Germany's savers, which are the bedrock of its economy.There is a political dimension to this. Dr. Schaueble's party, the CDU, is losing popularity and desperate for...

Looks like they are again making hawkish noises, taking the lead of the Fed: ECB wary of further action despite uncertain future By: Balazs Koranyi and John O’DonnellJan 14 (Reuters)* Many governors sceptical of need for further action in near term* Governors urge countries to act instead with reform* Oil price and inflation expectations:Many European Central Bank policy makers are sceptical about the need for further policy action in the near term, conversations with five of them indicate,...

Seems there’s no wisdom on the topic of ‘money’ anywhere of consequence: No ‘plan B’ for ECB despite still low inflation: Praet Jan 6 (Reuters) — Executive Board member Peter Praet said various factors, notably low oil prices and less buoyant emerging economies, meant it was taking longer to reach the goal of inflation of close to but below 2 percent. “We need to be attentive that this shifting horizon does not damage the credibility of the ECB,” he added. “There is no plan B, there is just...

Excerpts from the Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Economic Club of New York, 4 December 2015: There is no particular limit to how we can deploy any of our tools. True- limits are political And in this context it is important to recall that we operate under a clear framework of monetary dominance – we are ultimately driven by our mandate of maintaining price stability. True Indeed, it is inevitable that unconventional policy settings, ranging from negative interest rates to...

Yes, they were up, but there is a ‘seasonal’ aspect to it, including an air show, so the year over year chart is a bit more indicative of what’s going on and it’s still in negative territory. Also, vehicle orders declined, and inventories remained at levels that beg continuing production cuts. Factory OrdersHighlightsFactory orders bounced sharply higher in October and, together with the bounce higher for manufacturing in the industrial production report, confirm what was a very solid month...

In my last post, I warned about "siren voices" calling for tighter monetary policy while the Eurozone economy is stuck in a toxic equilibrium of low growth, zero inflation and intractably high unemployment. Specifically, the so-called "German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE)" has called for the ECB to reduce or unwind QE: ...the European Central Bank should slow down the expansion of its balance sheet or even phase it out earlier than announced. Of course, the GCEE is only concerned...