Key Issues for Monetary Policy: An ECB View

The European single currency, the euro, has become a visible and successful token of Europeans' drive towards unification. It was born in an era in which high-speed structural change tests the validity of economic models and defies searches for standard policy recipes. Like all central banks, the European Central Bank (ECB) must deal with uncertainty that derives not only from the timely identification of important disturbances but also imperfect knowledge of how such disturbances affect the economy. These problems are compounded by the likelihood that important and poorly understood structural changes accompany cyclical forces. Unification of Europe has brought about significant structural change, which has been amplified by the recent enlargement of the European Union. Under these conditions, independence of the ECB, a mandate of price stability, and clear rules of fiscal governance have been essential for the credibility of the euro. Thus, the ECB has quantified its target of price stability in a mediumterm framework. Like the US Federal Reserve, the ECB's policy framework is comprehensive, and its decisions are transparent. Unlike the Fed, however, the ECB has an explicit, quantitative definition of price stability and performs a detailed and explicit crosscheck between its economic analysis and detailed monetary analysis. These differences notwithstanding, the similarities between the ECB and the Fed are more important.Business Economics (2005) 40, 22–28; doi:10.2145/20050104