The reputation of a newborn central bank

Abstract

Most of the problems that the European Central Bank has encountered are due to the slow progress made in improving the quality of the monetary union. The increasing variance of the inflationary process among the 12 countries, especially at the extremes of income level distribution – between Germany and Portugal, say – has meant that the common monetary policy is not yet the best possible. The quest for an optimum currency area continues. JEL Codes: E52, E58, F36, E52, E58, F36