# Blog

The ECB and politics in an era of low interest rates

This op-ed was originally published in the Handelsblatt, Nikkei Veritas and Nikkei Asian Review and Linkiesta. The ECB is often criticised for its low interest rate policy – especially in Germany, where this is fel...

26th November 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2019 views

# Publications

Is globalisation reducing the ability of central banks to control inflation?

After soaring in the 1970s, inflation in Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development countries stabilised, coming down from 9 percent on average in the early 1980s to about 2 percent in the years before the cris...

13th November 2015 by Gregory Claeys, Guntram B. Wolff 1960 views

# Publications

Schriftliche Stellungnahme Bundestagsanhörung „Niedrigzinspolitik der EZB“

This Policy Contribution was prepared for the Financial Committee of the German Bundestag. It is only available in German. Zusammenfassung Reale Renditen fallen weltweit mindestens seit Anfang der 1980er Jahre, so auch i...

5th November 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2081 views

# Blog

Inflation expectations and global risks: the need for ECB action

The ECB will have its next monetary decision meeting on Thursday. Instead of following politically motivated statements that complain about low nominal rates, the ECB needs to focus on its mandate: price stability, defin...

21st October 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2658 views

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# Publications

The Vulnerability of Europe’s Small and Medium-Sized Banks

We study the vulnerability of 130 banks directly supervised by the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism. Illustrative stress tests using banks’ balance sheet data reveal that significant stress prevails i...

16th July 2015 by Ashoka Mody, Guntram Wolff 2559 views

# Blog

Why we should not blame the ECB for low returns on German savings

the fall in inflation and in real returns is behind the dramatic decline in interest rates over the past 3 decades The ECB has lowered its official interest rate several times in the last years and the rate is now...

9th May 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2403 views

# Blog

European banking supervisor should limit banks’ exposure to all eurozone governments, not just Greece

– The ECB’s quantitative easing programme provides the right conditions for introducing exposure limits On March 25 Europe’s new watchdog for banks, The Single Supervisory Mechanism, imposed limits on Greek banks’ ...

1st April 2015 by Guntram Wolff 3582 views

# Blog

The Greek banking system: a tragedy in the making?

As the ECB has decided to discontinue allowing Greek government bonds to be used as collateral in normal ECB refinancing operations, attention is fully back on the Greek banking system.1)The European Central Bank’s Gover...

6th February 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2396 views

# Interviews

«Alexis Tsipras doit être conscient de ce qu’il peut ou non demander»

3rd February 2015 by Guntram Wolff 11349 views

# Blog

Greece and the euro area need a deal within days, not months

International press informs us that the Greek government believes it has weeks or perhaps months to negotiate a new deal with its creditors. The basic idea of the new Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is that Greec...

2nd February 2015 by Guntram Wolff 2236 views