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At the Crossroads: The Euro and Its Central Bank Guardian (and Savior?)

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  • Jorg Bibow

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the (mal-) functioning of Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), focusing on the German intellectual and historical traditions behind the euro policy regime and its central bank guardian. The analysis contrasts Keynes's chartalist conception of money and central banking to the peculiar post-WWII German traditions as nourished by the Bundesbank and based on fear of fiscal dominance. Keynes viewed the central bank as an instrument of the state, leading and controlling the financial system and wider economy but ultimately an integral part of, and controlled by, the state. By contrast, the "Maastricht (EMU) regime" (of German design) positions the central bank as controlling the state (and disciplining labor unions, too). The paper identifies a number of potential weaknesses that could undermine the euro's guardian of stability, and ultimately the euro itself. Essentially, the national success of the Bundesbank model in pre-EMU times has left Europe stuck with a policy regime that is wholly unsuitable for the area as a whole. As the general perception in Germany today is that the euro crisis has confirmed the soundness of the key "stability-oriented" principles and ideas behind the euro regime, and of the virtuousness of Germany's own conduct under that regime in particular, it is hard to see how Europe might escape doom through regime reform and policies that would need to permanently put to rest Bundesbank wisdom.

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  • Jorg Bibow, 2012. "At the Crossroads: The Euro and Its Central Bank Guardian (and Savior?)," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_738, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_738
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kenen,Peter B., 1995. "Economic and Monetary Union in Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521558839, January.
    2. Allsopp, Christopher & Vines, David, 1998. "The Assessment: Macroeconomic Policy after EMU," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 14(3), pages 1-23, Autumn.
    3. Goodhart, Charles A. E., 1998. "The two concepts of money: implications for the analysis of optimal currency areas," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 407-432, August.
    4. Jorg Bibow, 2001. "Making EMU Work: Some lessons from the 1990s," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 233-259.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Anselm Küsters, 2022. "Applying Lessons from the Past? Exploring Historical Analogies in ECB Speeches through Text Mining, 1997–2019," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(1), pages 277-329, March.
    3. Arnaud Lechevalier, 2015. "Eucken under the Pillow: The Ordoliberal Imprint on Social Europe," Post-Print halshs-03781875, HAL.
    4. Jörg Bibow, 2013. "Lost at Sea: The Euro Needs a Euro Treasury," IMK Studies 35-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    5. Stefano Figuera & Andrea Pacella, 2021. "La teoria euckeniana della moneta: spunti per una riflessione critica (Eucken's theory of money: ideas for critical reflection)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 74(296), pages 275-299.
    6. Basham, James & Roland, Aanor, 2014. "Policy-making of the European Central Bank during the crisis: Do personalities matter?," IPE Working Papers 38/2014, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    7. Peter Nedergaard & Holly Snaith, 2015. "‘As I Drifted on a River I Could Not Control’: The Unintended Ordoliberal Consequences of the Eurozone Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 1094-1109, September.
    8. Makuachukwu G. Ojide & Chigozie O. Agu & Precious Ohalete & Emmanuel Chinanuife, 2022. "Nigerian economic policy response to COVID‐19: An evaluation of policy actors' views," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(1), pages 69-85, March.
    9. Nicholas Apergis & Ioannis Pragidis, 2019. "Stock Price Reactions to Wire News from the European Central Bank: Evidence from Changes in the Sentiment Tone and International Market Indexes," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 25(1), pages 91-112, February.
    10. Taner Akan & Tim Solle, 2022. "Do macroeconomic and financial governance matter? Evidence from Germany, 1950–2019," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 17(4), pages 993-1045, October.
    11. Agu Osmond Chigozie & Omolade Adeleke, 2022. "Restructuring and Reshaping Africa Oil Exporting Countries Post COVID-19 – A Participatory Development Strategy Approach," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 22(2), pages 1-17, December.
    12. Michal Jurek & Pawel Marszalek, 2015. "Policy alternatives for the relationship between ECB monetary and financial policies and new member states," Working papers wpaper112, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    13. Stefano Figuera & Guglielmo Forges Davanzati & Andrea Pacella, 2022. "Considerations on the Legacy of Ordoliberalism in European Monetary Policy," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 95-122.
    14. William Mitchell, 2016. "Eurozone Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale," World Economic Review, World Economics Association, vol. 2016(7), pages 43-55, July.
    15. Giovanni Covi, 2021. "Trade imbalances within the Euro Area: two regions, two demand regimes," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 181-221, February.
    16. Jakob Vestergaard & Daniela Gabor, 2021. "Central Banks Caught Between Market Liquidity and Fiscal Disciplining: A Money View Perspective on Collateral Policy," Working Papers Series inetwp170, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    17. Gerard Strange, 2018. "The euro crisis, euro reform, and the problem of hegemony," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 125-139, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Central Banking; Bundesbank; Ordoliberalism; Economic and Monetary Union; Euro Crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes

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