Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
Ongoing grand plans to flood the economy market with money have reminded Bundesbank's Jens Weidmann of the scene in the play Faust – when the devil (Mephistopheles) 'disguised as a fool', convinces an emperor to issue large amounts of paper money – which solves the kingdom's financial problems in the short-term but ends rather badly in rampant inflation.
As The Telegraph notes, without specifically mentioning Mario Draghi’s bond-buying programme, he said: “If a central bank can potentially create unlimited money from nothing, how can it ensure that money is sufficiently scarce to retain its value?” He added: “Yes, this temptation certainly exists, and many in monetary history have succumbed to it,” Mr Weidmann warned.
Although the remarks were in context – Frankfurt is currently marking the 180th anniversary of the death of Goethe – they defy calls by leaders for Mr Weidmann to tone down his criticism of the ECB, particularly at a febrile moment in the crisis.
