It seems clear that the ECB will raise interest rates in July 2022 and end its asset purchase program. This should send a strong and important signal to markets and economic players that the ECB continues to take its mandate for price stability seriously. However, it cannot be said with absolute...

The paper analyses the global spillovers of the Federal Reserve's unconventional monetary policy measures. First, we find that Fed measures in the early phase of the crisis (QE1), but not since 2010 (QE2), were highly effective in lowering sovereign yields and raising equity markets in the US...

Monetary policy in the euro area is conducted within a multi-country, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual context involving multiple central banking traditions. How does this heterogeneity affect the ability of economic agents to understand and to anticipate monetary policy by the ECB? Using a...

The paper shows that there is a substantial degree of heterogeneity in the ability of Fed watchers to forecast US monetary policy decisions. Based on a novel database for 268 professional forecasters since 1999, the average forecast error of FOMC decisions varies 5 to 10 basis points between the...

The debate about TARGET2, the payment system of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), has resulted in controversial discussions in Germany in recent years. The present study by DIW Berlin concludes that fears often expressed in this context of the risks to Germany are largely unfounded....

Am 11. und 12. Juni 2013 hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht Experten zur Krisenpolitik der EZB angehört. Dabei ging es um die Frage, ob oder inwieweit die EZB durch das Outright-Monetary-Transactions-Programm (OMT) Kompetenzen beansprucht, die ihr nicht übertragen worden sind. Wir...

Obwohl die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) seit Jahren einen expansiv ausgerichteten geldpolitischen Kurs verfolgt, ist die Preisentwicklung im Euroraum nach wie vor äußerst schwach. Mehr noch: Wie der vorliegende Wochenbericht deutlich zeigt, sind die Inflationserwartungen im Euroraum nicht...

The European Central Bank (ECB) decided at its Council meeting in January to implement a comprehensive program to purchase bonds, including euro area government bonds. The purchases are intended to anchor the rate of inflation and inflation expectations at below but close to two percent again....

Auf ihrer Ratssitzung im Januar beschloss die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) ein umfassendes Ankaufprogramm für Anleihen, insbesondere Staatsanleihen. Die Käufe sollen dazu dienen, die Inflationsrate und die Inflationserwartungen wieder bei knapp unter zwei Prozent zu verankern. Angesichts der...

Precisely 25 years ago, on July 1, 1990, German monetary union came into force. On the same day, capital controls in Europe were abolished, creating the basis for European monetary union and the euro. These two historical events fundamentally changed Germany and the rest of Europe. Both German...