BRUSSELS Take 21 men and one woman from 16 countries, some of whom are economics professors, others technocrats, bankers or former politicians. Fly them to Frankfurt and demand a plan to combat the worst European recession since the second world war. The likely result? Agreement on anything might be considered remarkable.
Hardly surprisingly, the public appearance of the European Central Bank’s governing council has looked rather ragged recently. Comments by members have pointed to splits over whether interest rates could be slashed to zero, whether central banks should be seen to be “printing money” to boost the economy, or if they should take over the role of lending to businesses.
