There are increasing signs of a strong recovery in the European economy as the year progresses.
The rolling back of the pandemic will affect households' propensity to spend as favorably as companies' willingness to consider investing.
A significant increase in overall economic demand should have a positive effect on the labor market, but it will also leave its mark on the inflation statistics, which have so far been characterized primarily by supply effects.
This prospect should provide those forces in the European Central Bank with arguments that do not want to wait any longer to abandon the very expansive monetary policy.
Especially in uncertain times, it proves beneficial to fight inflation early rather than late in order to reduce the adverse effects of tighter monetary policy on economic growth and employment.
In a thriving economy with inflationary pressures, there are no convincing arguments for bond purchases and negative interest rates.