While Italian and Spanish political (and business) leaders are lauding Mario Draghi's plan to buy more assets and print more money, it appears not everyone is so excited. As Reuters reports [7], Christian Social Union chairman and Bavaria state premier Horst Seehofer (who is well known as an ally of Angela Merkel), blasted the ECB's plan: "It's only going to frighten a lot of people when ECB chief Mario Draghi opens up the central bank's money tap and at the same time buys junk paper," somewhat breaking the political taboo of criticizing the potential independence of the central bank.
An ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised the European Central Bank and its president Mario Draghi in a rare public attack, telling Bild newspaper the ECB's new schemes to bolster lending and buy asset-backed securities would scare Germans.
"It's only going to frighten a lot of people when ECB chief Mario Draghi opens up the central bank's money tap and at the same time buys junk paper," Christian Social Union chairman and Bavaria state premier Horst Seehofer said in an interview with Germany's top-selling newspaper, to be published on Monday.
Political leaders in Germany almost never publicly question or criticise the independent Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, or the European Central Bank, although government officials have expressed doubts about the ECB's moves privately.
Furthermore, he noted, reflecting on the rise of Germany's Anti-Europe party (which won a surprise 9.7 percent in a recent regional election.)...
"It is our job to criticise these debt-making policies - our country doesn't need an AfD for that," said Seehofer.
"The majority in the AfD are not a bunch of far-right nimrods but rather there are a lot of intelligent people there skilfully playing on the public's fears," said Seehofer.
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While capacity constraints, treaties, and historical precedent are all against Draghi's plan doing anything for Europe's economies, it would appears the peripheral beggars have once again become choosers and have mitigated any need for reform once again...
