, Columnist
Christine Lagarde Is Third-Time Lucky
After a very slow start, the ECB is showing it’s ready to do "whatever it takes" to protect the euro-zone economy in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Decisive and flexible, finally.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
It’s third time lucky for the European Central Bank.
On Wednesday night, the ECB announced a 750 billion euro ($820 billion) quantitative easing program to help the euro zone economy deal with the Covid-19 shock. The central bank had been slow off the blocks in dealing with the crisis, and then stumbled at the first obstacle with a terrible mistake by President Christine Lagarde. The ECB is finally now up to speed — and investors are taking notice.