The Chairman has considerable influence over the policy outcome, disproportionate to the one vote he or she casts, so that the quality of the chairman is especially important. The Federal Reserve has been fortunate to have strong leadership for many years under both Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan.
Rates of increase in house prices, for instance, are lower in most euro area countries than before the crisis, and in all countries they are below the trend that could be considered normal on the basis of historical averages. Besides, price increases become particularly problematic when they are mainly driven by huge credit growth.