Bundesbank

The end of the Bundesbank era

With Jens Weidmann’s imminent departure, the ECB will lose its most hawkish governor. The move will also symbolise the ECB’s transition into a less stability-oriented institution – right when high inflation expectations in Europe are taking hold. [...]

Trapped in a low-interest environment

The reason for the Germans’ current Weltuntergangsstimmung (apocalyptic mood) is economic. A new book promising “The biggest crash of all time” before 2023 tops Amazon.de’s bestseller list. And now the Bundesbank, the country’s central bank, has joined the choir of doomsday merchants with its annual Financial Stability Report. [...]

Testing the RBA’s DNA

Both the Bank of England and the German Bundesbank enjoy formal independence, but this independence looks and feels very different in practice. One can be free of all vices without having a single virtue. In the same way, central banks can be formally independent without adding to economic and financial stability. [...]

Europe’s hidden doomsday machine

What Europe is still discussing and Germany is vehemently resisting – the transformation into a fiscal liability union – has long been achieved through the Target backdoor. Brace yourself for the day when Europe finally wakes up to its forgotten fourth crisis. [...]

Farewell to Europe’s old guard

ast week’s unexpected resignation of Bundesbank president Axel Weber sent shockwaves through the German government. It reignites the debate about the best way to deal with the euro crisis, the policies of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Germany’s role within European Monetary Union. It also poses questions about an institution that was once regarded as the best central bank in the world. [...]