Must-read: Peter Praet: Interview with La Repubblica

Must-Read: SOCIAL CREDIT!! The helicopters are not in the air, not on the runway with rotors spinning, not on the tarmac, but they are in the hangar undergoing maintenance checks…

Peter Praet: Interview with La Repubblica: “External shocks can easily trigger a vicious circle, with further downward pressure on inflation…

…We wanted to ensure that this did not happen, in line with our mandate. It was decided by the vast majority in the Governing Council, that we had to act very forcefully to ensure an even more accommodative monetary policy stance…. We decided in favour of a package which still made use of changes in the ECB interest rates but increased the weight of measures aimed at credit easing…. The measures we took should bring us close to the 2 per cent target at the end of 2018. But don’t forget, the measures we take like the APP are supposed to remain in place as long as inflation has not reached a sustainable adjustment….

There has been a lot of skepticism recently about monetary policy, not only in delivering but in saying ‘your toolbox is empty’. We say, ‘no it’s not true’. There are many things you can do. The question is what is appropriate, and at what time. I think for the time being we have what we have, and it is not appropriate to discuss the next set of measures…. [But] you can issue currency and you distribute it to people. That’s helicopter money. Helicopter money is giving to the people part of the net present value of your future seigniorage…. The question is, if and when is it opportune to make recourse to that sort of instrument…

March 21, 2016

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Brad DeLong
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