ECB Policy Responses between 2007 and 2014: a chronological analysis and a money quantity assessment of their effects

In this paper, we analyse the ECB policy measures in place since the outbreak of the financial crisis. First, we discuss the categorisation of the measures implemented by the ECB. Second, we study the phases of the crises and the concrete policy responses. Third, we conduct a comparative analysis of the ECB and the FED responses at the beginning of the crises with regard to the financial system structure, the determinants of the balance sheet size and composition, the risk absorbed, and the exit strategy involved. Finally, we discuss the effectiveness of the ECB’s monetary policy from a traditional monetarist perspective during the entire period, by analysing its impact on monetary aggregates and the money multiplier.