“Identify Europe” comes as an imperative - almost an order. It urges us to define what Europe is about. There are, of course, many ways of approaching this question. We can define Europe geographically, culturally, historically or economically. Please allow me to reflect upon the issue from an institutional perspective.
Monetary policy, for example, cannot ignore the potential inflationary pressures inherent in our current fiscal outlook, especially those that could arise in meeting commitments to future retirees. However, I assume that these imbalances will be resolved before stark choices again confront us and that, if they are not, the Fed would resist any temptation to monetize future fiscal deficits.