Jean-Claude Trichet: The euro, its central bank and economic governance
Text of the Stamp Memorial Lecture by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European
Central Bank, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, 13 June
2011.
* * *
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me to speak here at the London School of Economics and Political
Science today.
The euro and its central bank, the ECB, are unique. The European single currency is the only
major currency not issued by a single sovereign state, but by a union of sovereign states.
Indeed, the European Treaties specify a clear division of responsibilities between
Europeanlevel policy-making and national policy-making. For countries that have adopted the euro as
their currency, this implies that, on the one hand, monetary policy is inherently indivisible,
and in the euro area it is thus conducted at the supranational level by the ECB. On the other
hand, fiscal policies remain largely the competence of national governments.
In this lecture I would like to explore how the unique institutional framework of Economic and
Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe has fared over the past 12 years and particularly during the
global financial crisis.
As you will be aware, the primary objective of the European System of Central Banks is to
maintain price stability in the euro area. In the first part of my lecture I will show how the ECB
achieved this primary objective before, during and after the crisis. I will also try to convince
you that the economic performance of the euro area as a whole has been quite remarkable
over the past twelve and a half years.
At the same time, we have to recognise that several individual countries in the euro area are
facing significant challenges and that experiences during the crisis in different parts of the
euro area have been quite diverse. In the second part of my lecture, I will address the issue
of economic diversity in the euro area and show that the euro area shares this characteristic
with the United States - an economy and a currency area that is a natural reference point
taking into account its size.
Finally, the crisis has exposed weaknesses in the economic governance framework of EMU
that need to be addressed urgently. I will close my lecture with some comments about what
these reforms of the economic governance framework should look like from the perspective
of the ECB.
The ECB's primary objective: price stability in the euro area before and after the crisis
I can say today that the ECB has fulfilled its primary objective to the letter. As you know, the
ECB aims at inflation rates of below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. Annual inflation
over the first 12 years of EMU has been 1.97% on average. A precision landing.
More generally, the degree of price stability has been greater, over the past 12 years, in the
euro area as a whole than in the individual euro area countries over the previous 50 years.
This is no small achievement. The ECB has faced many challenges in pursuing its objective:
the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the shock wave of 11 September 2001, the volatility of
commodity prices and, of course, the worst financial crisis the world has known since the
Second World War.
During the crisis, together with other central banks around the world, the ECB has had to
operate in an uncertain environment. Allow me to explain our monetary policy response to
the crisis in more detail.
Crucially, we were alert from the very first day. We were one of the first central banks to
react, when the financial markets became abruptly turbulent, in August 2007, taking action
swiftly.
Dysfunctional financial markets threatened to compromise our ability to guide the outlook for
price stability by using only our conventional instrument - interest rates. Faced with this
situation, over the years that followed, we have implemented a number of unconventional
measures to ensure that our decisions on interest rates are transmitted to the whole
economy, despite the problems observed in the financial sector and capital markets. In
particular, the major task was to allow banks - regardless of the level of the key interest rate
which was designed to deliver price stability - to continue to lend to households and
businesses.
It is important to understand that we maintained a principle of strict separation between our
conventional measures and our unconventional measures. Our interest rates are set so that
we can ensure price stability over the medium term. The implementation of unconventional
measures depends on the functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism and is
intended to repair disruptions of monetary and financial markets and of specific market
segments that might impede the overall transmission.
As the crisis called for rapid and unprecedented action, we did not lose sight of our main
objective, namely to maintain price stability over the medium term for the benefit of the 331
million citizens of the euro area. All - I stress that word - all monetary policy decisions we
have taken over the last 121⁄2 years were aimed at fulfilling this commitment.
Let me elaborate on this point. As you know, in normal times, central banks mainly influence
the economy and inflation by using the instrument for setting short-term interest rates.
In practice, the identification, at an early stage, of the risks to price stability is a delicate task.
To see it through, the ECB bases itself on a monetary policy strategy supported by several
sources of information. The economic analysis we undertake enables us to synthesise
information on short-term inflationary pressures from a large number of economic indicators.
Thanks to the monetary analysis that we also undertake, we can cross-check this information
with medium-term inflationary pressures drawn from the monetary and financial indicators.
These are the two "pillars" of our monetary policy, which indicate to us the necessary steps in
respect of the interest rate to ensure price stability over the medium term.
The measures we have taken, sometimes in the face of political pressures have
demonstrated our determination to stick to our mandate in full independence. We refused to
lower interest rates in early 2004 when Germany, France and Italy in particular asked us to
do so. And we did not hesitate to raise interest rates in December 2005, a time when
10 governments out of 12 in the euro area, plus many international observers, asked the
ECB to leave its key rates unchanged.
International financial institutions, in particular, highlighted the risks that the tightening of
monetary policy - after a prolonged period of accommodative monetary policy - could pose
to the recovery. Despite these warnings, we conducted our monetary tightening, and
international financial institutions, with the benefit of hindsight, have agreed that we were
right to make that decision.
After the crisis escalated in mid-September 2008, while inflationary pressures subsided, we
decided, in full accordance with our mandate, to reduce our key interest rate. We cut it
rapidly, from 4.25% in October 2008 to 1% in May 2009.
We lowered the key interest rate at a pace and to a level unprecedented in the recent history
of the euro area countries.
With the benefit of hindsight, the decisions we took during the crisis were, I think, vindicated.
They have in particular helped to preserve a very solid anchoring of inflation expectations
over the past four years. Our determination to maintain price stability over the medium term
has enabled us to prevent both the risk of inflation and of deflation from materialising.
With the recovery now more firmly established, we have seen in recent months upside risks
to the outlook for price stability over the medium term. Again, the sharp increase in oil and
other commodities has had a major impact on overall inflation. In these circumstances, the
central bank must prevent increases in the prices of raw materials from being incorporated
into the long-term inflation expectations, which could trigger second-round effects on wages
and prices.
It is against this background that the Governing Council decided in April to raise interest
rates. I stressed, in reporting this decision, that it had been taken unanimously. The action of
the Governing Council is motivated by a common goal.
That decision in April confirmed that the separation principle is strictly applied and that our
non-conventional measures do not restrict in any way our ability to toughen the monetary
policy stance when facing inflationary pressures. Thus, when the Governing Council decided
in April that it was time to raise interest rates, in parallel, at the same time, it decided to keep,
in the second quarter, the provision of unlimited fixed-rate liquidity for a period of three
months.
Contributing to economic performance
Price stability is the best contribution that central banks can make to sustainable economic
growth and job creation. I think there is widespread agreement on this among central
bankers and academic researchers.
In the short run, however, some academic research suggests that there might be a
significant trade-off between low inflation volatility and low output volatility. If prices are
stable, economic adjustment has to occur through the real economy channel. It may
therefore be difficult to achieve these two goals at the same time.
The chart shows that the euro area scores relatively well on both dimensions. This is
puzzling, given that the euro area has quite rigid product and labour markets, at least
compared with the United States. The higher degree of price and wage rigidity in the euro
area would suggest that output volatility should be significantly larger in the euro area than in
the more flexible US economy.
This would be particularly true during a period when the economy is subject to supply-side
shocks, which are simultaneously exerting inflationary and recessionary influences. Yet
surprisingly, and despite the negative supply-side shocks that had been hitting the euro area
economy over the years up to 2007, the data suggested that both inflation volatility and
output volatility in the euro area were lower than elsewhere.
Output volatility in the euro area is much higher when the crisis is included in the sample.
But, remarkably, the euro area still scores well on both dimensions compared with other
advanced countries.
How can we explain this puzzle? How can nominal rigidities plus supply-side pressures not
produce bad or worse macroeconomic outcomes?
I believe that the strong anchoring of inflation expectations in the euro area is the key to
understanding this good economic performance of the euro area.
Inflation expectations have remained solidly anchored in line with our definition of price
stability throughout the crisis. In particular, there was no materialisation of a deflation risk.
This has enormously facilitated our task, especially during the period of economic freefall in
the winter of 2008/09.
Other indicators corroborate the finding that at the aggregate level the real economy of the
euro has proved relatively dynamic in comparison with the US: real output per capita has
grown at a similar pace in the euro area as in the United States.
Employment growth in the euro area has also been strong over the past 12 years. More than
14 million jobs have been created since the introduction of the euro, compared with 8 million
in the United States.
This is not to suggest that there is time for complacency. Unemployment at 9.9% of the
labour force remains much too high, and structural reforms are of the essence to make the
euro area economy much more flexible and to elevate its growth potential.
Finally, public finances in the euro area as a whole are relatively sound. As elsewhere, the
financial crisis has left its mark on government deficit and debt in the euro area. Yet, the
fiscal deficit in the euro area on aggregate for this year is estimated at less than one half of
that in the United States and Japan.
One may argue, however that this bird's eye view is misleading. One common belief is that
the US economy is more homogeneous than the economy of the euro area. In other words,
aggregate economic data may hide very significant differences in the variance in economic
performance across regions within a monetary union.
Economic diversity in the euro area and the United States
Looking more closely at the regional dispersion across US regions and euro area economies
show that, contrary to what is generally perceived, the dispersion of many of the key
indicators is similar.
Let us take a look at the inflation indicator. The dispersion of HICP inflation in euro area
countries remained broadly stable since the late 1990s, at a level similar to the 14 US
Metropolitan Statistical Areas. During the crisis we saw a temporary increase in inflation
dispersion in the euro area. As you can see, this has been reversed over the past 12 months.
The picture is similar for the dispersion of GDP growth. Before the crisis the dispersion of
growth rates was around 2%, in both the euro area and the United States. Dispersion rose
somewhat during the crisis in both currency areas but remained broadly in line with pre-crisis
patterns overall.1
Let us go one step further and investigate the sources of this growth dispersion in the US
and euro area economies. This reveals parallels even in the root causes of dispersion in
economic performance. Both currency areas comprise regions that experienced a significant
boom and bust cycle over the past decade. Both also contain regions that are facing
significant structural challenges of a more long-term nature.
Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California in the United States, for example, experienced
increases in house prices that outpaced the national average by a wide margin. Steep house
price increases and the related strong performance of real estate, construction and financial
services probably contributed to above average growth in these states.
Some other US states, particularly the former manufacturing powerhouses in the "Great
Lakes" region, saw a long episode of below average growth at the same time. Below average
performance of the region - and particularly weaker growth rates in the states of Michigan
and Ohio - are related to strong reliance on manufacturing. Structural shifts in the US
economy towards services have gradually reduced the value added of manufacturing relative
to GDP, with implications for areas with a high concentration of companies in manufacturing
industries other than information and communications technology.
The sharp fall in house prices in Florida and the south-western US states turned boom into
bust. These states experienced the harshest recession among the US states. But GDP
growth in the "Great Lakes" region, which was below average before the crisis, also
remained below average during the crisis.
Some euro area countries experienced asymmetric boom-and-bust cycles similar to those
just described in the United States. Several euro area countries had higher than average
growth in the pre-crisis years, while a few have experienced growth below the euro area
average for the past decade due to structural issues that could have been tackled with more
determination.
The effect of the crisis on the different euro area economies follows a similar pattern to those
of comparable US states. The countries in the euro area that have been hit hardest are those
in which either large asset-bubble driven imbalances unwound or structural problems were
left unaddressed before the crisis. More specifically, Ireland and Greece, in particular,
remained in recession in 2010.
Those countries that have yet to implement more far reaching structural reforms also have
relatively low growth prospects after the crisis.
Just a few years ago, Germany was - entirely wrongly - labelled the "sick man of Europe".
Yet Germany is now an example of how big the dividends of reform can be if structural
adjustment is made a strategic priority and implemented with sufficient patience.
The relatively low growth rates in some countries are linked to a deterioration of
competitiveness, driven, for example, by persistent above average unit labour costs.
Ahead of EMU, unit labour costs converged in the euro area. What is more - disregarding
the most recent countries to join the euro area - dispersion both ahead of the crisis and
during the crisis was very similar in the euro area and the United States.
At the same time, it is worth noting that both currency areas include regions with persistently
above or below average growth of unit labour costs. Again leaving aside the most recent
countries to join the euro area, here, Greece, Portugal and Ireland, in particular, have lost
competitiveness vis-à-vis their main trading partners in the euro area. Germany, in contrast,
has been able to lower relative unit labour costs over the same period.
Similar persistent losses and gains in competitiveness are also observed in the United States.
Some states have experienced large or persistent increases in unit labour costs, currently
exceeding the national average by as much as 20%. Other states, on the other hand, have
been gaining competitiveness vis-à-vis the national average over the past decade.
In summary, these results suggest that those who are questioning the viability of the euro
area as a single currency area on the grounds of economic heterogeneity are misguided.
Over the past 12 years, this has been broadly similar in the euro area and the United States.
This should, however, be no reason for any complacency in the euro area.
As the crisis has taught us, persistent losses in competitiveness on the part of individual
members in a currency union lead to a build-up of external and internal imbalances. When
these unravel, the cost for the affected economies can be very large. They can also have
spillover effects on other members of the currency union.
In any union, an economic governance framework is needed to prevent developments in an
individual member state endangering the smooth functioning of the union. But for EMU, the
economic governance framework devised in the 1990s has not been implemented and, in
any case, has proved too weak during the crisis. The crisis has exposed a clear need for
strong reform. As I speak today the reform debate is still in progress, and in the last part of
my lecture, I would like to talk briefly about the present reform of economic governance in the
euro area.
Economic governance in the euro area
The existing economic governance framework has been incorrectly implemented and, more
importantly, has proved to be insufficiently binding while lacking appropriate
comprehensiveness.
Today's reform of the governance framework has to take the current constitutional
framework. We have to accept this situation as a given, at least for the foreseeable future,
even if I am convinced that we have already to reflect upon further steps for economic
governance in the longer term. Today, we have to empower the institutional arrangements
that are already in place to the point at which they can really and durably inspire confidence.
The requirements for a very significant reinforcement of the fiscal surveillance of the Stability
and Growth Pact and for the creation of a new surveillance of competitive indicators and
macroeconomic policy have been discussed widely and in much detail.
As you may know, the ECB takes the strong view that there is the need for more speed and
automaticity in the sanctioning mechanism, particularly in the Stability and Growth Pact, but
also in the broader macroeconomic policy surveillance framework. The experience of the
past months has vividly demonstrated the importance of a timely correction of internal and
external imbalances.
Beyond faster and more automatic sanctions, the enforcement tools also need to be more
effective. The macroeconomic surveillance framework, in particular, needs to provide clear
incentives by imposing financial sanctions at an early stage. This also means that there
should be no room for discretion in the implementation of the surveillance framework.
At the same time, requirements for fiscal and other macroeconomic policies should be more
ambitious. To ensure that none of the euro area countries are left behind, they have to bring
national policies in line with membership of a currency union.
The implementation of sound fiscal and macroeconomic policies is best ensured if these are
solidly anchored at the national level. An effective way of achieving this is to implement
strong national budgetary frameworks in the euro area Member States.
Another important area of reform, at the global level, is the reform of financial governance.
I have to say that on financial reform we have made relatively rapid progress at the global
and European levels. As you know, we have drawn up a set of more stringent banking
regulations, more ambitious capital requirements to absorb losses, improving coverage and
reducing the risk of excessive borrowing. The countercyclical capital buffers are designed to
reduce pro-cyclicality.
At the same time, the supervision of financial institutions, financial markets and market
infrastructure has been tightened, and the organisational structure of financial oversight has
been overhauled. The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), which I chair together with
Mervyn King, and the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) - the three new authorities
created for the European banking sector, insurance and occupational pensions, and capital
markets - have taken up their work at the beginning of this year. The ESRB is in the process
of developing the tools necessary to warn and, if appropriate, make recommendations as
regards systemic risk. And the ESAs will allow closer monitoring of the interrelationships
within the EU's financial system.
But much remains to be done. Most importantly, we need to ensure the full implementation of
the envisioned reforms. In addition, key areas where work is still in progress - not only at the
European, but also at global level - include: the treatment of systemically important financial
institutions; the mechanism of bank crisis management and resolution; oversight of the
shadow banking system; and - very importantly - the further regulation and oversight of
financial markets and their functioning.
Conclusion
Let me conclude. Europe's European Union on the one hand and European Economic and
Monetary Union on the other hand have always had their critics. For example, as regards
EMU, some have argued that a single currency was inappropriate for a continent that is
economically more heterogeneous than the United States. And some have claimed that the
ECB would not be able to set appropriate interest rates for the euro area to maintain price
stability and contribute a positive economic outlook.
The evidence I have presented here proves these sceptical views not confirmed. The euro
area as a whole has witnessed an unprecedented degree of price stability since its inception
more than 12 years ago, including during the crisis. This achievement has been
accompanied by economic performance in terms of growth per capita and job creation that
compares positively with other large advanced economies.
It is also remarkable that there is convincing evidence that the euro area and the United
States have similar features in terms of diversity of the economies that are part of these vast
continents: member countries on this side of the Atlantic and the States on the other side.
This is documented, in particular, as regards asymmetric inflation, asymmetric growth
developments and even in terms of somewhat persistent asymmetric gains and losses of
competitiveness.
As I have said, none of this should make us complacent. The sovereign debt crises in three
smaller euro area countries underline the urgency of a far-reaching overhaul of the fiscal and
macroeconomic surveillance institutions in Europe. Here the governments of the Member
States are called on to create the institutions that are commensurate with full economic and
monetary union.