The president of the Bundesbank was once the mightiest central banker in Europe. No more. In the council of the European Central Bank, Jens Weidmann is just one of 23. He has only one vote – the same as Greece. It gets worse. One of Europe’s last monetary hawks, Mr Weidmann is isolated, gnashing his teeth as the ECB gears up to go full throttle into a business that, according to its statutes, is verboten: buying the debt of member states. Wave goodbye to the old ECB; say hello to the Fed-in-Frankfurt.
德国央行(Bundesbank)行长曾经是欧洲最有权势的央行官员。今非昔比。在欧洲央行(ECB)的理事会中,延斯•魏德曼(Jens Weidmann)只是23名理事中的一位。他只有一票表决权——和希腊一样。还有更为糟糕的情况。作为欧洲所剩无几的货币政策鹰派人物之一,魏德曼受到了孤立,他感到非常愤怒,因为欧洲央行准备全力以赴开展违背其自身章程的业务:购买成员国的债务。挥别过去的欧洲央行,迎接“法兰克福版的美联储”吧。