European Central Bank: Governments must do more for economy

Associated Press ^ | Sep 8, 2016 11:11 AM EDT | David McHugh

[Olog-hai]

The European Central Bank left its stimulus measures on hold Thursday and warned governments in the 19 country euro currency union that they need to do more to help the economy grow and push up inflation to healthier levels.

The bank kept its key interest rates unchanged and decided against extending the duration of its existing bond-buying stimulus program.

Bank President Mario Draghi seemed relatively confident about the economy and less inclined to hint at more stimulus than some analysts had expected.

Instead, he used his news conference to urge governments to do their part.

He said that implementation of “structural reforms” — that is, steps to make economies more business and growth-friendly — “needs to be substantially stepped up to reduce structural unemployment and boost potential output growth.” …

[RayChuang88]

First things first: they really need to look at a much-simplified income tax system that encourages savings and capital formation not leaving the country for tax reasons.

[Brian Griffin]

“push up inflation to healthier levels”

Inflation is only taking a breather because of lower oil prices.

I’ve seen Paris real estate prices - no inflation is needed whatsoever.

[Brian Griffin]

Economies exist to serve human needs.

A German will not eat twice as much food each year in 2036.

A European adult will only need one car to drive around town even in 2056.

Apartments will not double in size every twenty years, going from 1,000 square feet in 2016 to 2,000 square feet in 2036 to 4,000 square feet in 2056 and up to 8,000 square feet in 2076, etc.

The amount of time young people spend in school won’t double.

In a mature state, an economy can not be expected to grow by much. It might even contract. I use far less electricity than I once did. Cars might run on battery power and last twice as long, cutting the number of auto jobs in half.

Your mutual fund almost certainly isn’t going to make you rich. It might keep you ahead of inflation if you are lucky.

[Zarro]

Governments must do more for economy

Haven't they done enough already?

[Myrddin]

Governments need to stop meddling and stop taxing so heavily. Stop devaluing currency by printing furiously. It doesn't help. It just distorts the market by putting money in places the government favors to the disadvantage of others not in the "freebie" stream.

[Buckeye McFrog]

What, a government that can’t create inflation?
Talk about incompetent!