What should the economic policy response be if growth slows markedly in the euro zone?
The latest cyclical indicators suggest that growth in the euro zone is going to slow significantly. How should monetary and fiscal policies respond if this slowdown materialises? Monetary polic y has very little leeway, given the levels of short-term interest rates and government bond yields. We can only think of a resumption of quantitative easing targeted at corporate bonds in order to tighten credit spreads; Fiscal policy would therefore have to bear most of the cyclical stabilisation. But, given public debt levels, would it be able to? Maybe quantitative easing should then be resume d despite the very low level of interest rates so as to immediately monetise the additional fiscal deficit.