In the European Monetary Union, as Eurostat has just reported, consumer prices rose by only 2.9 percent in October. After rates below two percent were recorded for some countries in the previous months already, the statistics for October also show only 3 percent for Germany in the European harmonised index.

This is almost exactly the scenario that Friederike Spiecker and I described in March of this year. Which means nothing other than that it was easy to see back in the spring that there was no real inflation in Germany and Europe, but only temporary price increases whose clear levelling off had been apparent to any objective observer for a long time.

Now, at the latest, it is clear that the ECB and all those inflation alarmists were fundamentally wrong who pretended that since last summer there had been a dangerous inflation process that could only be stopped by an ECB-orchestrated slowdown of the economy. The subsequent interest rate hikes by the ECB have already caused enormous damage.

In view of the recession in Germany and the looming recession in the whole of Europe, it is imperative that the leaders of German and European politics sit down immediately with the head of the ECB to address the looming deflationary dangers and to press for a rapid turnaround in monetary policy.

If the ECB waits any longer to make a decision in the direction of a significant interest rate cut, the rest of politics can no longer prevent the economy from being severely affected not only this year, but also next year. Those who remain silent now are directly responsible for the enormous damage caused by this misguided policy.