Mariodona shoots wide

The ECB’s failure to live up to its own hype at December’s Governing Council meeting looks likely to have at least some negative consequences, both on the economic outlook via the market response and on its own ability to influence markets verbally in the future.

If, as we suspect, the latest policy measures are insufficient to induce a strong recovery in the eurozone economy and to push inflation quickly back up to its target, Mr Draghi and colleagues would do well to adopt the opposite approach. Less talk, more action.