Can monetary policy do everything?
Monetary policy today is asked to: Combat inflation, if possible without triggering a recession; Ensure financial stability (no overindebtedness , no asset price bubbles ); Prevent public debt crises (particularly in the euro zone with the peripheral countries ); Enable the necessary investments with low financial returns (energy transition) to be made. Central banks ought to have as many monetary policy instruments as they have objectives (four). These possible instruments are: Short-term interest rates; The yield curve slope (with quantitative easing or quantitative tightening ); In the euro zone, instruments to control yield spreads between countries; Macroprudential policies (bank ratios, credit limits, tax policies, etc.). In particular, if inflation is to be combated while preserving public debt sustainability and supporting investment, the yield curve would have to be inverted, which is not always straightforward.