The financial crisis and the extraordinary measures taken by central banks across the globe in response to it are an example of such special circumstances. In normal periods, central bank actions in pursuit of price stability are less noticed. This holds all the more true when periods of inflation are long past and memories of the negative consequences of instable currencies have faded away.
Since the introduction of the euro, the phenomena of price instability have not been something that citizens of the euro area have really needed to concern themselves with in their everyday lives. This is to the credit of the European Central Bank (ECB), its Governing Council and the “monetary team” including all national central banks belonging to the Eurosystem.