In fact, this is certainly a main moral of this story, but this anecdote also points out to another important fact, namely that sound policies require good analyses, and – in turn – good analyses rely on high quality statistics. At the ECB, the use of statistics for our analysis and communication is pervasive.
One just needs to listen to the introductory statement of the ECB President at the monthly press conference following the Governing Council meeting or read the ECB Monthly Bulletin to immediately realise how intensively we rely on statistical data.