ECB's obsession with inflation

Karm Farrugia, Madliena

Lino Spiteri is right (The Times Business, July 10) to describe the European Central Bank as "obsessed" with inflation fears, further describing as "madness" its decision to raise interest rates in the present-day European and global recessionary scenario.

Surely, such a decision could not have been unanimous. Possibly, the Bank's president himself was against it. Who knows? I think we should know, in the manner adopted in the UK by its central bank.

At least, we would know which way our vote went in such an important matter.

Comments

Andrew Martinelli (on 19/7/08)

@ Mr. Lethbridge

Well said: I encourage Mr. Farrugia to look up the devastating effects of inflation in the last couple of decades. In those times, governments (and CBs) everywhere underestimated the dragon of inflation, we shouldn't do the same mistake twice.

Russell Lethbridge (on 19/7/08)

You're right to call for more clarity, but I don't think you are Lino or yourself are right to call the ECB's decision to raise interest rates "madness".

It's easy to forget how devastating inflation is, seeing as it's been so long since we suffered at it's hands. Being tough on inflation now might very well save us considerable pain in the future, once released inflation is very hard to put "back into the bottle".