In this context, let me quote Joseph Schumpeter, one of the greatest economists of all time, who wrote: “Der Zustand des Geldwesens eines Volkes ist ein Symptom aller seiner Zustände.” ["The condition of the monetary system of a nation is a symptom of all its conditions."]
– What Schumpeter said about a nation, goes today as well for Europe as a whole, for our Economic and Monetary Union. What happens to our money, is a reflection of the state of our union and its economy. So we have to take a broad view. Monetary policy has its own mandate in economic life, but it cannot solve all the world’s problems.