Has the financial crisis eroded citizens' trust in the European Central Bank? : evidence from 1999-2010

Trust in the ECB has fallen to unprecedented lows in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Up to the start of the recession in 2008, trust levels in the ECB were moderately high and trust in the ECB was not affected by business cycle variables such as growth and inflation. This changed radically with the recession, with trust in the ECB becoming correlated quite closely with growth. After a relatively short recovery in 2009 trust in the ECB has fallen again at the start of the Eurozone crisis. Our findings first imply that European citizens seem to have placed a heavy share of the blame on the European Central Bank for the real economic downturn caused by the financial crisis in early 2009 and secondly an increase of debt over GDP and inflation have caused the new fall in May 2010.