, Columnist
Europe Has Recovered Enough to Ease Off the Quantitative Easing
"Taper" is not a dirty word.
Mario Draghi, right, has a rare opportunity to mark the euro zone's progress.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The European Central Bank is approaching a great opportunity to signal unambiguously its confidence in the region's economic revival. It would be a shame to miss it.
The ECB's governing council returns from its summer break next week knowing that its current program of quantitative easing expires at year end. Officials have spent months signaling that decisions are coming and that a consensus will have to be hammered out on whether, and how, to withdraw stimulus. Speculation has focused on the Sept. 7 and Oct. 26 meetings.