More ECB Myth Making

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard criticizes the ECB for having exceeded its target for M3 growth rate during the previous boom. Although I don't think M3 (particularly not the ultra-broad European version) is the right monetary aggregate to focus on, he is essentially right about that.

Now, however, Evans-Pritchard claims that ECB does not inflate enough and claims that they pursue "deflation policies". Yet if you look at the latest M3 figures, you can see that they grew 5.9%, which is to say the ECB continues to exceed its 4.5% target. And the in my view more relevant M1 and M2 measures grew even faster (6.3% and 7%, respectively).

This is just another example of what I described in my recent post "The Myth of the hawkish ECB".