The fact that Europeans have a strong preference for risk-free savings will be a serious disadvantage

Euro-zone households have a strong preference for risk-free savings. This behaviour will be very detrimental for the euro zone: The ECB's purchases of public debt will lead to a major scarcity of risk-free bonds, since demand for such bonds is strong, resulting in absurdly low long-term interest rates; The repetition of crises has led to an increase in the perception of risk associated with holding financial assets that finance companies (corporate bonds, equities); it is then impossible to see how companies' equity can be strengthened unless governments systematically provide them with guarantees; There is a parallel increase in bank deposits (perceived as risk-free and therefore in strong demand) and loans (increasingly risky given the fragility of corporate balance sheets), which complicates the situation of banks, whose liabilities are risk-free and whose assets are risky, and which will have to increase their capital at a time when demand for risky assets (bank shares) is weak. The euro zone's situation would be much simpler if savers would accept to hold more risky assets .