Hans-Werner Sinn, "The Economics of Target Balances" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)
Every day, TARGET - Europe's cross-border payments system - processes transactions worth €2.5 trillion. Under its decentralised model, TARGET generates balances between the national central banks.
These were tiny at its creation but today – after a decade spanning the financial crisis, the sovereign-debt crisis and now the pandemic recession – Germany’s TARGET balance exceeds €1 trillion.
In his The Economics of Target Balances: From Lehman to Corona (Palgrave Macmillan), Hans-Werner Sinn says these balances are a “fever thermometer” for the health of the financial system. The system as it is…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.