, which is undoubtedly an inspiring responsibility. what counts is to have a good team spirit, a solid institution and all the wisdom of collegial decision - making. question : is the president of the ecb more of an academic / technocrat or a diplomat / politician? should the president of the ecb be a career central banker with impeccable academic credentials, such as athanasios orphanides of the central bank of cyprus? or should the president of the ecb have a background in high - level national and european politics and multinational institutions with extensive personal networks, such as erkki liikanen of the bank of finland? i have no comment on the decision which will be taken by the heads of state and government. i will only say that, of course, all members of the governing council have a solid academic background. that being said, all kinds of experience can be important and useful. and again : what is decisive is the team spirit. question : based on your experience, is central banking more art than science? central banks need formidable analytical capacities and skills. you need both state - of - the - art analytical work, as deep and robust as possible, and you need judgement, based on experience and a solid capacity to synthesise all pertinent analyses. that is true in absolutely all circumstances, and particularly in times of crisis. question : professor barry eichengreen of the university of california, berkeley, recently published a book about the us dollar entitled exorbitant privilege. in the book prof. eichengreen makes the following assessment when he analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the major currencies. bis central bankers ’ speeches “ if a first - class international currency needs a first - class central bank, then this, too, is something the euro possesses. the ecb has shown itself to be extraordinarily serious about the maintenance of price stability. although it was roundly criticized for its exceptional purchases of government bonds in the spring of 2010, it continues to take its price - stability mandate seriously. it shows absolutely no inclination to embark on reckless inflationary policies. ” first of all, do you agree with this assessment? secondly, is the perception that the ecb is extraordinarily serious about the maintenance of price stability something that you would like to see as your personal legacy as a central banker? i did not know that you would quote barry eichengreen. but yes, you can see that we consider price

, namely the interest rate decisions, which are designed to deliver price stability, and the non - standard measures, which are designed to help restore a better transmission of our monetary policy, taking into account the abnormal functioning of some markets. question : how is the ecb ’ s room for manoeuvre influenced by the poor condition of public finances in euro zone countries, and especially in the countries with acute crisis? as i said, we are not compromising on our primary goal of maintaining price stability, and our interest rate decisions are designed to fulfil that aim. any other approach would be unthinkable. and one should never forget that price stability is a precondition for sustainable growth and job creation. question : there are some heavily indebted nations within the euro area, most prominently greece. yesterday ( tuesday, 19 april ) the news agency reuters reported that clemens fuest, who chairs the german finance ministry ’ s technical advisory committee, said greece ’ s extremely weak balance sheet meant a restructuring of the greek sovereign debt was inevitable. he said that : “ one must recognise the realities – i am expecting a haircut ”. do you agree with mr fuest and other prominent economists and policy - makers who have expressed similar views? there is an important adjustment plan which has been adopted by the greek government to reform its fiscal and structural policies. this plan has been approved by the imf, by the international community and by the european commission in liaison with the ecb. this plan is being applied. question : how worried should we be about credit rating agency s & p ’ s negative outlook for the aaa rating of us debt? is there a rising risk of higher long - term interest rates worldwide? the ecb has always thought and said that it was important for all advanced economies, without exception, in europe and the rest of the world, to be very keen on the sustainability of their long - term fiscal policies. it is extremely important that the authority of the signatures of the advanced economies is unchallengeable. i personally have full trust in the united states for preserving its creditworthiness and the authority of its signature. question : the ecb has postponed its exit from the non - standard measures on several occasions. can the non - standard measures de facto co - exist with any level of interest rates? yes, indeed, the “ separation principle ” that we apply permits us always to have the right level of interest rates, even when markets are still not