But engineering financial repression in order to facilitate balance sheet adjustment would clearly violate the mandate to maintain price stability as a primary objective conferred upon the ECB by the Treaty. Earlier in my remarks I referred to the central bank’s steering of inflation expectations as an illustration of the notion of control.
Moreover, I mentioned that the steadfast pursuit of the  5  4  Fisher, “The Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions”, Econometrica, vol. 1(4), 1933, pp. 337–357. BIS central bankers’ speeches  central bank’s mandate exemplifies the notion of courage. I am very sceptical whether increasing the numerical definition of price stability helps in either of these dimensions.