The Bank of England, which dates back to 1694, as well as the Banque de France and De Nederlandsche Bank, which had both been founded only a couple of years before the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, had been set up as privately held joint stock corporations. The advantage of this arrangement was two-fold.
The truth is this, and I repeat: we are convinced that a lasting cure for European unemployment can only be found by applying measures affecting supply. It is not true, however, that our monetary policy strategy neglects the demand side of the economy.