They have just come out today (Gonzalez-Paramo) and said that they will publish the details of how they'll be sterilising the bond purchases next Tuesday. That look like monetization to you?Quote from achilles28:
Is that what he says? Apparently, you're a bigger fan than me.
ECB now monetizes eurozone sovereign debt. Next step? Put the offenders on a tight leash. Greece didn't like it either. Tough luck. You think Germany and France will sit idly by and let the PIIGS continue to spend their money?
At the same time, Spain came out yesterday with additional austerity measures (5-15% cuts in civil servant wages and pay freeze for 2011; pension freeze; cancellation of child tax benefit; this is on top of the already announced VAT hike). Today Portugal announced that they're raising retirement age, scrapping infrastructure projects (new airport and high-speed rail), cutting senior public servants' wages by 5%, as well as lifting VAT and income taxes. I'd say they're doing the right thing, so I, personally, am willing to give them a chance.