The resignation of Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann must be seen as an alarm signal by supporters of monetary stability: Weidmann had tried for years to oppose a monetary policy-driven restructuring of the euro zone into a debt union. The Bundesbanker kept the balance between open criticism and loyalty. He is a very calm and level-headed representative of his guild, a mixture of civil servants – in the best sense of the word, civil servants with principles! – and central banker.
His abrupt departure, which nobody expected, is not a sign of frustration, but of realism: The German virtues – hard currency, a sense of proportion, frugality and a sense of responsibility – no longer count in the world of turbo-finance capitalism. Monetary policy has degenerated into a casino. The boundaries between private and state interests have fallen.
The principle familiar from the financial crisis continues to apply and is now increasingly valid in the euro zone: profits are privatized, losses nationalized. Weidmann always had the German savers in view during this dangerous hustle and bustle – that too is a good Bundesbank tradition. But with negative interest rates, savers are, by definition, stupid. The world is at the feet of the speculators.
But because it can already be seen that the inflation rate is rising and monetary policy no longer has any effective means of counteracting it, savers in the euro zone can be prepared for drastic measures: those by the IMF many years ago to solve the Debt crisis demanded property levy will come. The party won’t pay those who drank the most. The bill remains with those who still have something in their pockets.
Jens Weidmann no longer wants to be in the front row in this hustle and bustle. He warned for a long time and was not heard. His resignation is a shock and at the same time all too understandable.