Enter Italy’s most famous personality after Julius Caesar (as you know, famous for his quote “veni, vidi, vici”), with his world-famous quote, “whatever it takes”; it is far from clear that the “only game in town” WOULD be enough to save the euro this time. Before closing with my comments on my country, Greece, only a very brief comment on populism.
These considerations form the core of the second and third component of our response: preserving viable bank lending conditions and acting as a lender of last resort to solvent banks. Together with the first component they provide a reliable backstop for firms and households during these challenging times. To see this, consider first firms’ market-based financing conditions.