The unsound doctrine of sound money

So it's hello M Trichet and goodbye Mhr Duisenberg, a man who will be remembered for presiding over the successful launch of the euro, though hardly for his stirring oratory and pro-active monetary policy.

As a former President of the Dutch Central Bank, he replicated the fiscal orthodoxy of the Bundesbank. The first President of the ECB was a very conventional banker.

Contrary to popular myth, Wim Duisenberg is not a Conservative; in the 1970s he served as Finance Minister in t...