January 14, 2015
The folks setting economic policy in Europe have already inflicted massive damage on the continent, putting foreign enemies and natural disasters to shame. But the pain goes on.
The NYT reported on a preliminary ruling on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) plans to buy government bonds by one of the advocates general at the Court of Justice of the European Union. According to the piece, the ruling authorized the ECB to buy government debt, but said:
“the central bank should not buy government bonds immediately after they are issued, to allow markets to determine a price.”
The point of a bond buying program is to raise the price of bonds and push down interest rates below the market level. Also, it really doesn’t matter whether the ECB buys the bonds directly from a government or from third parties after they are issued. In both cases it would be taking possession of the same share of the stock of outstanding debt, which is the relevant factor for determining bond prices and interest rates.
Can someone buy these folks an intro econ text?
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