A gift of higher national income comes our way as a result of the discovery of natural resources or a rise in demand for them. The higher income permeates through the economy and before long even industries and regions not directly exposed to that shock are feeling good.
And yet it is right that the euro sculpture will be marking the centre of our monetary union, now and in the future. For, after all, the monetary union no longer rests solely on monetary policy. Around one and a half years ago, the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for Europe’s banks was launched, heralding a key step towards the completion of this monetary union.