Monday, May 26, 2008

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Euro post-its? How are they different from regular post-its?
With all mentions of food you have made thus far, at least your parents (mom especially) know that they are feeding you well.

Dee said...

They're not really different. They're in the shape of a Euro, that's pretty much it. But they are not watermarked with the Euro. I don't know why the Bank didn't think of that.