ECB executive Lorenzo Bini Smaghi wants to keep the IMF out of Europe.

From the 34th floor of the European Central Bank building in Frankfurt it is easy to see that large parts of the city were destroyed during the Second World War. Unlike Dresden, few houses and public buildings were rebuilt here, but over the years empty areas have been filled up with commercial and industrial buildings. Even when seen from the air, the city will not win any beauty contest. But, pretty or not, Frankfurt has become one of the financial centres of Europe.

“I’m not sure whether the first decade of the euro has been such an easy ride. Many people, especially in the United States, thought that the euro would not survive for very long. We have certainly seen a few crises. First the dotcom bubble burst. Then there was 9/11. We have had a fivefold increase in oil prices. And the euro has also weathered the biggest financial crisis since the war well, that of the banks in 2008. People had their doubts whether the ECB could manage a new currency. But inflation has remained stable, at around two percent, and per capita growth has not been lower than in the United States. International trade has suffered some severe blows during the crisis. If we hadn’t had the euro, exchange rates within Europe would probably have fluctuated wildly. I can assure you: speculators would have had a field day.”

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