ECB: Independent or political leverage? No-one can tell for sure!
After the ultimatum issued by the ECB one might wonder about the independence of the ECB and its subsequent credibility. Is the orchestrator of the Eurosystem really independent, conditionally independent or totally dependent to the political agenda of any given moment? Its dependence or independence extends to which degree? First of all, the direct funding of public sector, i.e. public debt, is prohibited in the name of the credibility and independence of a central bank (here, the ECB). I must admit that I do not rigorously disagree with the necessity of independence, at least under certain circumstances. What about when a central bank is used as a leverage to political negotiation? What about when the central bank (any given one) turn a blind eye to imminent systemic risks of extended destabilization? What are the motives of this attitude? Why all of the ECB controversial measures have been proven to be cripple so far? When the monetary authority does not seem annoyed at al...