[ad_1]
Editor’s Note: The Economist is making some of its major coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our center
WHen Rail joined the European Central BankECB) Almost a year ago, I barely expected to fight the economic effects of a pandemic. The bank’s concerns back then seem picturesque now. The euro area economy was sizzling and the ECB He forecast a growth rate of 1.4% for 2020. Now Mr. Lane, the bank’s chief economist, speculates that GDP It could drop by 5-12% this year.
Like other central banks, the ECB has prepared an alphabet soup of schemes, including the Pandemic Emergency Buying Program (PEPP), which will buy bonds worth € 750 billion ($ 815 billion). However, unlike other banks in the rich world, the ECB You must defend yourself against suspicions that you cannot act freely. On May 5, the German constitutional court ruled that the Bundesbank would have to stop participating in the ECBFive-year quantitative easing scheme unless proven to be “proportionate”. Some fear PEPP You could face a legal challenge below.
Christine Lagarde, the bank’s president, has promised that the opinion does not “bother” her. You could probably pass the court test, but you may not want to have access to a national court. The row makes your credibility with investors paramount. Ms. Lagarde is neither an economist nor an experienced central banker, so it is up to Lane to provide the technical basis for that credibility. He presents policies and develops the ECBThe intellectual framework.
The Irishman has all the credentials he needs. As an academic in the United States and Ireland, the Harvard-trained economist studied cross-border capital flows, which were at the root of the euro area sovereign debt crisis in 2010-12. He was part of a circle of wonders that proposed ways to correct flaws in the architecture of the euro. As Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 2015 to 2019, he also formulated a policy. His experience and understated style, colleagues say, lend more weight to his arguments. (It may help that your accent has become familiar over time.)
The job of central banks in the crisis is to ensure that the conditions for a recovery are in place and to stabilize panicked markets. Mr. Lane identifies an additional role for the ECB, like the central bank of a monetary union: to avoid an “unwarranted” tightening in financial conditions as a result of investors discharging riskier government debt (eg Italian) for safer bonds (eg German). The flight to safety, first analyzed by Lane and others during the debt crisis, is what the PEPP now try to board. Make purchases “flexibly”, rather than in approximate proportion to each member country GDP, As the ECBOther schemes do.
A leakage of bonds would also be avoided if the debt were jointly backed by the Member States. In 2018, a group of advisers, led by Lane, recommended the use of sovereign-backed securities to the European Commission. The joint broadcast returns to the table as members discuss how to finance the recovery. But with northern states still reluctant to share risks, it seems unlikely. Then it is up to the ECB to avoid panic.
When Mrs. Lagarde said in March that it was not the ECBThe job of closing the spreads, investors got scared. But Mr. Lane defends the sentiment. The objective is not to eliminate spreads: “Market discipline operates in the euro area.” It is a point of satisfaction that the ECBBuying bonds over the years has reduced risk-free rates, but that differentiation between members remains.
Moderate levels of spreads may be desirable, but not huge gaps. Debt-ridden Italy and Spain have been hit hard by the virus, but have spent relatively little on stimuli. What happens if they lose access to markets? If countries face solvency problems, Lane says, other tools must intervene, for example, the euro area rescue fund. That could help unlock unlimited bonus purchases from ECB.
Higher public debt will be a feature of the post-pandemic landscape. Wary households will likely save more, providing demand for that debt. The rich world will begin to resemble Japan. However, low inflation may not persist. In the short term, Lane says, the pandemic is “surely deflationary.” But long-term judgment is reserved. Shorter supply chains could drive inflation. Many companies could go bankrupt, giving survivors the power of pricing.
For now, the incentives of the monetary and fiscal authorities are perfectly aligned. With policy rates equal to or below zero, central banks are devising new ways to reduce borrowing costs. That suits governments, which issue large amounts of debt to finance the stimulus. However, a shock is expected when central banks decide to raise interest rates. You could imagine politicians in the United States or Great Britain appointing a flexible central bank chief. That is less likely in the euro area, argues Mr Lane, where “19 sovereigns are looking at each other.” But, as the judges of Germany have revealed, the institutional environment in which ECB opera is too messy. It’s just as good that Lagarde is a former politician and lawyer. The economy will only take you so far. ■
Dig deeper:
For our latest coverage of the covid-19 pandemic, sign up for The Economist Today, our daily newsletter or visit our coronavirus tracker and story center
This article appeared in the Finance and Economics section of the print edition under the heading “Talking Lane”
