The Governing Council of the ECB did all what was necessary to be faithful to its primary mandate and to take into account, in transmitting our decisions on interest rates, that we were in the worst crisis since 66 years, a crisis which was disrupting some markets. Jürgen Stark has been a very close friend for 18 years.
For example, the average size of a manufacturing sector start-up in the US and Italy is roughly the same within its first two years – 5–10 employees. After ten years, however, the average US firm has grown to around 75 employees, while the average Italian still has below 15 employees.