Allow me to quote the Bundesbank, which in 2014 came to the following conclusion: “negative real rates of interest have been the norm, rather than the exception, over recent decades.” There is absolutely no basis for blaming the ECB for the problems of savers. Interest rates will  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  only rise when growth and inflation pick up again.
That is precisely what we are trying to achieve. At the beginning of December, the ECB’s Governing Council decided on further monetary easing. The financial markets were disappointed; they had expected more. The volatility was bigger than it has been for years. What lessons does the ECB draw from this?