Morning Must-Read: Brian Blackstone and Hans Bentzien: Bundesbank’s Weidmann Criticizes ECB’s Stimulus Measures

The Bundesbank’s Jens Weidmann appears to have no clue that the ECB (and thus the Bundesbank) is failing in its mission to stabilize inflation at a level “near to but below 2%/year”, and no desire to actually have it accomplish its assigned mission:

Brian Blackstone and Hans Bentzien: Bundesbank’s Weidmann Criticizes ECB’s Stimulus Measures: “German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann criticized the European Central Bank’s decision…

…to buy private-sector bonds and signaled his fierce opposition to purchasing government bonds, underscoring his reluctance to back additional stimulus measures to combat weakness in the eurozone economy. Mr. Weidmann said he stands by the conservative principles that have characterized the Bundesbank throughout its nearly 60-year history: keeping inflation low; protecting the central bank’s balance sheet from risks and strict separation from the financial needs of governments…. Mr. Weidmann said he is aware of the risks of too-low inflation…. However, ‘the trough of inflation should soon be behind us’, Mr. Weidmann said…. He was similarly skeptical of fiscal stimulus, despite low government borrowing costs…. ‘The cyclical situation and outlook do not require fiscal stimulus’ in Germany, he said…. ‘The concept of an independent central bank clearly focused on price stability is neither old-fashioned nor outdated’, he said. ‘It is about not falling into the trap of “This time is different”‘.