Without prejudice to the objective of price stability, the ESCB shall support the general economic policies in the Community.” In other words, the maintenance of price stability is the most important guiding principle of the architecture of the European System of Central Banks.
In retrospect, it is clear that more investment monies flowed into these economies than could be profitably employed at modest risk. I suspect that it was inevitable in those conditions of low inflation, rapid growth and ample liquidity that much investment moved into the real estate sector, with an emphasis by both the public and private sectors on conspicuous construction projects.