Division at the European Central Bank

The Washington Post‘s Anthony Faiola reports on a signficant departure at the European Central Bank: A German hawk on the ECB board, Juergen Stark, 63, who effectively doubled as the bank’s chief economist for more than five years, stepped down citing “personal reasons,” according to a short statement issued by the bank. But reports out ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The Washington Post's Anthony Faiola reports on a signficant departure at the European Central Bank:

The Washington Post‘s Anthony Faiola reports on a signficant departure at the European Central Bank:

A German hawk on the ECB board, Juergen Stark, 63, who effectively doubled as the bank’s chief economist for more than five years, stepped down citing “personal reasons,” according to a short statement issued by the bank. But reports out of Frankfurt indicated that Stark was bitterly at odds with the ECB’s aggressive program to aid troubled members of the euro zone, particularly Italy and Spain, by buying up tens of billions of dollars’ worth of hard-hit government bonds. Ultimately, his opposition to the program, according to Reuters, led him to resign. 

Reuters reports that Germany’s deputy finance minister will take up the position. It’s hard to imagine that he’ll have a much different view.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tags: EU, Europe

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