As part of our cooperation project „Repair and Prepare: Strengthen the Euro“ with the Bertelsmann Stiftung, we cover key topics of the European Monetary Union in the election year 2017 in a series of ten poster-size “Europa briefings”. The first Europa Briefing deals with low interest rates in the euro area and the question whether the ECB pursues the right policies. As inflation has been too low in the euro zone since 2013, the ECB has been using low interest rates to boost the economy and stabilize the level of inflation. However, these measures can be politically explosive. Our briefing explains at what point low interest rates become an issue and what the ECB does to increase inflation.
Philipp Ständer is Advisor at the Federals Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, he formally worked for the Jacques Delors Centre.