You seem to be concerned by this discrepancy, and especially by the weakness of inflation, as the minutes [of the Governing Council’s December 2017 monetary policy meeting] make clear. How do you explain this? This development is in line with a dynamic we are seeing in all the advanced economies. Growth is accelerating but inflation is still not meeting expectations.
I have had the very great privilege to know and work closely with five of the Bundesbank’s Presidents – Karl-Otto Pöhl, Helmut Schlesinger, Hans Tietmeyer, Ernst Welteke and Axel Weber – and with Board members, in particular Otmar Issing and Jürgen Stark at both the Bundesbank and the ECB, as well as with the many excellent professionals committed to fulfilling the mission of this important institution.