Abstract
The outlook for economic growth in the euro area is at best moderate. Since inflation has stabilised and no significantly rising inflation rates are expected in the near future – although uncertainty remains extremely high – the question arises whether an expansionary monetary policy could stimulate growth and perhaps even generate positive distributional effects. However, the weakness in growth is primarily due to structural rather than cyclical factors. These cannot be addressed through monetary policy. Even an expansion of the ECB’s mandate to include employment or growth objectives – which would be problematic in any case – would therefore be irrelevant at present.