Central banks around the world intervened on a massive scale: interest rates were slashed to all-time lows, and unprecedented non-standard measures were rolled out. In the euro area, where the financial and economic crisis evolved into a sovereign debt crisis in 2010, monetary policymakers repeatedly came under pressure to prevent the crisis from escalating.
Sometimes they went to the very limits of their mandate, and some believe even beyond. Now that the worst of the crisis appears to be over, questions are being asked about what lessons central banks should learn and whether the pre-crisis consensus is still valid.