The citizens of Germany and the rest of Europe can rely on us to continue to deliver price stability in the years to come. Our defence of our mandate will be just as resolute as it has been in the first 11 years of Monetary Union. A monetary policy that pursues short-term objectives is doomed to failure.
However, this focus on the longer term means that those independent central banks also stand in contrast to the short-termism of the financial markets. The global financial crisis is also fundamentally a result of short-term thinking. Challenges arising from the financial crisis The handling of the financial crisis and its economic consequences has been a great challenge for us all.