Monetary policy became the major tool of economic policy to counteract the financial crisis of 2008/2009. The underlying macroeconomic consensus is that inflation rates of 2% are consistent with a stable rise of economic growth. While most central banks follow this guideline, which is widely...

Central bank announcements have strong effects on interest rates, but small or even counterintuitive effects on economic expectations. Based on tick-by-tick futures prices on bonds and stock prices, I confirm these seemingly puzzling results for the euro area and provide evidence that they are...

We explain the role of the Phillips Curve at the ECB in the analysis of the economic outlook and the formulation of monetary policy. First, revisiting the structural Phillips Curve, we highlight the challenges in recovering structural parameters from reduced-form estimates and relate the...

Central banks' commitment to public interest goes beyond monetary policy. A wide range of areas are under the control of central banks (price and financial stability, services for the economy, e.g., economic analysis, payments, financial education, customer protection); central banks also have...

Petition 0429/2017 has been brought forward by Prof. Harald Bolsinger. In this article he describes backgrounds and developments around the petition. The petition, submitted on May the 8th 2017, addressed the investments policy of the ECB. Compliance with EU Fundamental Rights, it claimed,...

The ECB has successfully performed its main task in the context of an independent monetary policy: The euro is stable and enjoys the confidence of the population and the economy. Regarding sustainability, the ECB has so far displayed varying degrees of ambition. The ECB on its own can, and...