The announced resignation of Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has been successful and consistent. For ten years the central banker fought for a moderate monetary and debt policy. His departure is a loss for the stability of the euro zone. How large? This becomes evident when the succession is established.
Has Jens Weidmann lost hope that he can still achieve great things for the monetary stability of the euro zone? It seems so. It wouldn’t be to blame for him. He gave the warning for more than ten years. He kept warning. Consistent and clear, but still diplomatic – as central bankers are ideally: Before keeping clammy EU states happy for too long with the help of the banknote press, before minus interest rates, before mutualisation of national debts in Europe.
The warning words of the 53-year-old economist, who earned a high degree of respect in the Advisory Council and then as economic policy advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, faded away several times. The headwind in the powerful ECB Council, to which the Bundesbank president is a member, was too great.
A good two years ago it looked as if he could inherit the then outgoing ECB President Mario Draghi and finally shape European monetary policy according to his convictions. Nothing came of it. In the end, the French Christine Lagarde made the race. In return, Ursula von der Leyen was allowed to become EU Commission President – a political horse-trade. From then on, Weidmann appeared even more isolated among Europe’s central bank governors. But at least he was heard. Became.
While financial politicians and central bankers are rushing to show respect to Weidmann for his clear stance, people in political Berlin are rubbing their hands together. In the midst of the debate about who gets which ministerial post in the future federal government, a new top job is surprisingly available. Some consider it possible that Isabell Schnabel’s former economic approach could move from the ECB’s board of directors to the top of the Bundesbank. In addition to other candidates, the previous State Secretary for Finance and confidante of Olaf Scholz, Jörg Kukies, is being traded as Weidmann’s successor.
Once the successor has been settled, one can gauge what the departure of Jens Weidmann means for Europe’s monetary policy and the interests of investors and savers. Regardless of who it becomes: it would be good if he or she took Weidmann’s principles as an example.