As the deflating real estate bubble is threatening a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis on steroids, people at the ECB are getting nervous that the Green Bubble they designed to bail out the system, is running out of steam. Politico revealed on Feb. 14 that at an internal meeting, ECB board member Frank Elderson, the bank “climate czar,” burst out against staff members who were critical regarding the ECB Green Finance policy, saying “I don’t want these people anymore.” At the meeting, Elderson insisted that people working at the ECB should be retrained into backing climate ideology.
While the ECB staff described Elderson’s outburst as “authoritarian,” it occurred while there was an internal discussion on how much the ECB policies should focus on “green” instead of price stability.
Elderson, a member of the Dutch central bank supervisory functions, played a key role in the creation of the Network for Greening the Financial System, of which he was a managing director. The NGFS was founded by eight central banks at the COP21 conference in Paris in 2015, and has expanded to several dozen members. It is composed of central bank supervisors with the task of pricing “climate transition” and building the necessary reserves in order that, instead of propping up the system, it blows it up. To know more, read the 2019 EIR Special Report: “CO2 Reduction Is Mass Murder.”
Whereas ECB President Christine Lagarde, when asked about the issue at the European Parliament after the Politico article was published, said “I stand by my colleague Frank,” adding that nevertheless she values “diversity,” economist Daniel Gros, Director of the Center for European Policy Studies, told Politico that “The discussion about greening central banking has become so polarized that a critical debate has become difficult. If you voice criticism, you are quickly accused of being anti-climate. I have personally had that experience more than once.”
Contacted by Politico, the ECB (probably a spokesman) said, “Climate and nature risks affect our monetary policy and banking supervision mandates, and all colleagues should understand what it means for their work.”
A cartoon making the rounds on the internet shows the ECB official asking the candidate interviewing for a job: “What causes inflation?” As the candidate answers: “climate change,” the official exclaims: “You are hired!”
