From Open Europe news summary of December 19, 2012 (my highlight in red):
Berlusconi: Italy will be forced to leave the euro unless ECB starts printing money In an interview on Italian public broadcaster Rai Uno yesterday, Silvio Berlusconi said, “Either Germany understands that the ECB must act as a real central bank, and therefore print money, or unfortunately we will be forced to leave the euro and return to our currency.” Meanwhile, Berlusconi’s party has asked to postpone the Italian general elections “by one or two weeks” – suggesting either 24 February or 3 March as possible dates. Separately, La Stampa reports that over the weekend, Mario Monti could officially endorse a group of centre parties which have pledged to continue with his agenda, rather than running himself. ASCA Il Messaggero Corriere della Sera Corriere della Sera 2 Repubblica Repubblica 2 Rai Uno AGI Libero La Stampa Times: Emmott
So there we have it–the real roll of a central bank is to print money. Patrick Barron
