This explains why communication intensity can at times increase, as measured by what some call “hawkish-ness” indicators, while policy rates remain unchanged, as happened in the first half of 2004.6 If the communication strategy is successful, expectations converge over time back to the level of unchanged policy rates.
Finally, I will devote some time to the important topic of financial integration in Europe. The economic background Beginning with monetary policy, a key feature of both the euro area and global economies in recent years has been the unusually high degree of economic and financial uncertainty which has accompanied economic recovery.