As part of the Bundesbank Invited Speaker Series, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel discussed economic resilience with economics professor Markus Brunnermeier. The event was moderated by Falko Fecht, head of the Bundesbank’s Research Centre.

In his introductory remarks, Mr Brunnermeier addressed the major innovations and upheaval that Germany is facing. As examples, he cited technological advances, the effects of globalisation, the green transformation and the prospect of a shrinking population. Resilience, i.e. adaptability, was needed to cope with such upheaval, he explained. This meant that society should take certain temporary risks in order to learn from them and thus to avoid major crises. Mr Brunnermeier described the role of the state in mitigating those risks that its citizens cannot take.

Resilience is a hallmark of good monetary policy

Under the moderation of Falko Fecht, Mr Brunnermeier went on to discuss with Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel whether an effective and rule-based monetary policy can be adaptable. In Mr Nagel’s opinion, good monetary policy is characterised by the fact that it pursues its objective, say a certain inflation rate, in a rule-bound manner. In exceptional situations, however, it also had to be able to take exceptional measures to achieve this objective, he continued, emphasising that such measures must not become the norm.

As part of the Bundesbank Invited Speaker Series, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel discusses current research and central bank-related issues with researchers and academics. At the most recent event in the series, he spoke about the digital euro with economics professor Peter Bofinger.