A second worry concerning the consequences of the asset purchase programme is that, by reducing interest rates, it is “expropriating the savers”. In my view this claim is based on a very partial understanding of the role of monetary policy and, more in general, of the secular factors that are currently affecting the global economy. 19.
The ECB considers the  BIS Review 48/2007  1  current growth potential of the EU to be around 2.25%, but this could be increased through improved labour productivity, which is precisely why the agenda of structural reforms embedded in the Lisbon Programme must be implemented. What do you think are the reasons that labour productivity has failed to improve?