Monetary easing by the ECB [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

The European Central Bank has been easing its monetary policy to counter deflationary forces in the euro-zone economy and to reinforce its fragile growth. On 10 March, the ECB announced another stimulus package, cutting interest rates, expanding its asset purchase programme in size and scope, and introducing measures to make it more attractive for banks to lend.

According to many analysts, the ECB’s ‘unorthodox’ actions, which follow the footsteps of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan, have helped to thwart deflation and to boost corporate activity. But critics say the ECB is going too far in its monetary stimulus and that its negative-rate policy could be harmful for some banks.

This note offers a selection of recent studies, reports and commentaries by some of the major international think tanks and research institutes on ECB policy. More studies on the subject can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are thinking’.

Mere criticism of the ECB is no solution
Bruegel, April 2016

Quantitative easing: An underappreciated success
Peterson Institute for International Economics, April 2016

Is there a need for additional monetary stimulus? Insights from the original Taylor Rule
Centre for European Policy Studies, April 2016

The ECB’s latest gimmick: Cash for loans
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2016

ECB decisions put lack of fiscal union in the spotlight
Bruegel, March 2016

Eurozone structural policy: Game changer, or game over?
Brookings Institution, March 2016

Helicopter drops reloaded
Bruegel, March 2016

La BCE veut sauver l’Europe
Institut Thomas More, March 2016

La Banque centrale européenne solde l’Etat Providence
Itinera Institute, March 2016

ECB asset purchases may affect wealth distribution
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, February 2016

ECB TLTRO 2.0: Lending at negative rates
Bruegel, March 2016

The negative rates club
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2016

Lender of last resort versus buyer of last resort: The impact of the European Central Bank actions on the bank-sovereign nexus
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, February 2016

The European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme: Limits and risks
Bruegel, February 2016

ECB policies effective in the euro area and Germany
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, February 2016

How can it work? On the impact of quantitative easing in the Eurozone
LUISS School of European Political Economy, February 2016

Monetary policy and public investment
Centre for European Policy Studies, January 2016

The ECB and the Fed: A comparative narrative
Bruegel, January 2016

Interaction between monetary policy and bank regulation: Lessons for the ECB
Centre for Social and Economic Research, January 2016

Has ECB QE lifted inflation?
Bruegel, January 2016

Countries under Adjustment Programmes: What role for the ECB?
Centre for European Policy Studies, December 2015

Is the European Central Bank beggaring its neighbors?
American Enterprise Institute, December 2015

Negativzinsen und Niedrigzinsen: ein Risikofaktor für den Euroraum?
Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, December 2015

The ECB and politics in an era of low interest rates
Bruegel, November 2015

Inflation and activity: Two explorations and their monetary policy implications
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2015

The impact of the ECB’s asset purchase programmes on sovereign bond spreads in the euro area
College of Europe, September 2015

Mario Draghi’s nightmare
Itinera, September 2015

Sovereign bond purchases and risk-sharing arrangements: Implications for monetary policy
Center for Social and Economic Research, July 2015

The effects of ultra-loose monetary policies on inequality
Bruegel, June 2015

ECB and democratic accountability and transparency
Foundation for European Progressive Studies, April 2015