TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cecchetti,Stephen G.
AU  - Schoenholtz,Kermit L.
TI  - How Central Bankers See It: The First Decade of ECB Policy and Beyond
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14489
PY  - 2008
Y2  - November 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14489
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14489.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Stephen G. Cecchetti
Monetary and Economic Department
Bank for International Settlements
Centralbahnplatz 2
4002 Basel
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 61 280 8350
Fax: +41 61 280 9113
E-Mail: stephen.cecchetti@bis.org

Kermit L. Schoenholtz
NYU Stern School of Business
Department of Economics
Office 7-181
44 West Fourth Street
New York, New York 10012
Tel: (212) 998-0866
E-Mail: kermit.schoenholtz@stern.nyu.edu
AB  - In this history of the first decade of ECB policy, we also discuss key challenges for the next decade. Beyond the ECB's track record and an array of published critiques, our analysis relies on unique source material: extensive interviews with current and former ECB leaders and with other policymakers and scholars who viewed the evolution of the ECB from privileged vantage points. We share the assessment of our interviewees that the ECB has enjoyed many more successes than disappointments. These successes reflect both the ECB's design and implementation. Looking forward, we highlight the unique challenges posed by enlargement and, especially, by the euro area's complex arrangements for guarding financial stability. In the latter case, the key issues are coordination in a crisis and harmonization of procedures. As several interviewees suggested, in the absence of a new organizational structure for securing financial stability, the current one will need to function as if it were a single entity.
ER  -