Did the ECB Overstep Its Mandate?

Recent price developments in the euro area demonstrate that deflation is a serious issue of concern. Some euro area countries are already facing a deflation in the usual macroeconomic sense of a 'general price decline'. This article discusses the economic consequences of deflation and suggests that the ECB’s expansionary monetary policy was inevitable.

[Full text of articles can be found in the Intereconomics Archive two years after the initial publication]

Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/

ESO: Background information: ECB launches bond-buying scheme of €60 billion per month http://www.europeansources.info/record/twitter-ecb-and-eurosystem-national-central-banks-have-as-previously-announced-started-purchases-under-the-public-sector-purchase-programme-ecb-launches-bond-buying-scheme-of-e60-billion-per-mont/

---