Theory and empirical evidence suggest that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and production levels. Indeed, there is evidence that a low-inflation regime supports higher productivity. Moreover, monetary policy has essentially only one instrument.
In fact, M&A activity in the euro area banking sector, and especially across borders, has been declining since 2000, especially in the aftermath of the crisis.6 The overall value of M&A transactions declined from an average of € billion in 2000-06 to less than € billion in 2017.