The Govenator

Like I said, one of the amazing things about the Tour is the chance to meet interesting people. Case in point: today.

After a stimulating day at the European Central Bank, we returned to Hachenburg for another economic lecture. This one was from David Murray Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada. He gave a talk about the inflation targeting of the Bank and the economic outlook for Canada. As a big shot in the Bank, his talk was a bit biased. According to him Canada is doing just great despite the rising currency and disparity across the country. But that's national monetary policy for you. It was still slightly thrilling to have a brush with that kind of fame.

Who Says Monetary Policy Isn't Riveting?

Our time in Germany seems dedicated to economic issues. As an enthusiastic observer of the economy, this isn’t really a problem for me.

Today we spent some time at the European Central Bank and let me tell you what a swanky place that is. The security checks we went through were more extensive than our time at the Commission and Court combined. They gave us visitors badges, took us through a metal detector and escorted us through two elevators. All this despite the fact that the ECB doesn’t even have money reserves in the building we were in. It was pretty exciting.

We started the morning in the room that the ECB Governing Council sits at to decide on interest rate cuts, which was quite exciting.

All in all the presentations were solid and very informative. True to their reputation, they were efficient and reserved. We were treated very nicely. On our arrival there was a plethora of swag awaiting us: a hardcover book on monetary policy, two brochures on the Eurosystem, a pen and Euro post-its; very impressive indeed. The bank didn’t skimp on food either. After every break there was tea and coffee and scrumptious snacks awaiting us and a beautiful lunch was served in the lounge we were kept in.

The only thing that took away from the day was the fact that I didn’t get to keep the our visitors badge.