EUROPE'S BIG MISTAKE.

EUROPEAN Central Bank; TRICHET, Jean-Claude, 1942-; INTEREST rates; PRICE inflation; GLOBAL Financial Crisis, 2008-2009; PUBLIC debts; ECONOMICS

The article discusses the policy decisions of the European Central Bank (ECB) during the global financial crisis that began in 2008. The author is critical of the ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet's ill-timed decision to raise interest rates when the European economy is struggling and sees the ECB's purchase of Italian and Spanish government bonds during the debt crisis as consequence of the decision. The ECB's concerns about inflation are also discussed.