Weidmann May ‘Follow in Weber’s Footsteps’ as ECB Changes Guard

New Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann signaled he may be as much of an inflation hawk as his predecessor Axel Weber, using his first speech to call for more policy tightening by the European Central Bank.

One of the ECB’s key challenges is to “formulate a return to monetary policy normality,” Weidmann said in Frankfurt yesterday after replacing Weber at the helm of Germany’s central bank. “Short-term crisis measures can, when administered as a long-term medication, be associated with considerable side effects,” he said, echoing Weber, one of the most ardent inflation fighters at the ECB.