European Central Bank in a Squeeze
Author: admin Post Date: February 8 2010On paper, the European Union has just established a new president in Brussels, and the central bank’s sole responsibility is to keep inflation in check. Moreover, the bank, based here, has almost no formal policy tools to help an ailing member country like Greece.
But as investor alarm about Greek, Spanish and Portuguese indebtedness increases, the crisis has highlighted the fundamental weakness of the European monetary union. With no strong political arm to ensure that members observe debt limits set by treaty, the responsibility falls to Mr. Trichet to try to resolve the crisis.
In the current situation, said Jörg Krämer, chief economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, only the bank’s president “has the authority and the expertise” to manage the situation.
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