8  BIS Review 53/2006  Monetary policy Having reviewed structures and shocks, I now move on to the third aspect of my discussion of the euro area: monetary policy. Did considerations pertaining to the nature of the shocks that occurred in the recent past and to the structural peculiarities of the euro area play any role in positioning the stance of monetary policy?
Can they go some way towards explaining the observationally moderate path that the policy rate has followed in the euro area? Did the smoother path of our policy rate impede a smooth adjustment of the euro area to the shocks that have hit the global economy in the recent past? Finally, does low inflation persistence provide reason for complacency?