In defense of the ECB on not raising rates during a supply shock, what Thornton told us should be the central bank response to a “bad harvest”.
ECB critics misread inflation: echoing Henry Thornton, supply shocks (like energy or bad harvests) create temporary imbalances, not monetary excess. Raising rates won’t fix supply and can worsen it by choking credit and slowing adjustment (e.g. renewables). The right response is real-side adjustment, not tightening, especially with cartelized energy prices.