That said, any currency of a truly global reach needs, amongst others, safe and efficient arrangements and seamless processes to clear and settle transactions in that currency. In the euro area, we have undertaken great efforts to introduce safe and efficient financial market infrastructures for payments and the clearing and settlement of financial instruments.
The resulting loss in global GDP is greater than under the bad solution, at least over the fiveyear horizon. Doing half the job, in other words, is worse over the short- to medium run than doing nothing. Fiscal consolidation and the repair of household balance sheets are necessary and inevitable, but doing them quickly, unassisted by growth from elsewhere, deepens global deflation.