The Concrete Euro

Reviews / Votes

During the opening stages of the financial crisis, the ECB provided the necessary liquidity to euro-system banks more smoothly than other Central Banks. This book describes how that was done. More recently, a second leg to the crisis, in the guise of the sovereign debt crisis in certain peripheral countries of the euro-zone, has blown up. The operational reactions of the ECB to this are also covered, up until mid-2010. This book provides a unique insight into the ECB's monetary operations, both in normal and in crisis conditions. A 'must read' for all those concerned with Central Banking, crisis management and the inner workings of the euro-system. * Professor Charles Goodhart, London School of Economics * These four papers by six ECB economists provide the most systematic and detailed look at how the European Central Bank has implemented its monetary policy, both during the all-too-short "normal" times of the Bank's initial years and then during the 2008-10 crisis period. The analysis is clear and elegant, and the empirical work provides useful insights as well. Anyone seriously interested in how monetary policy is actually carried out - either by the ECB or by other central banks - will want to read these papers. * Benjamin M. Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University *