- In part, because ECB would not have senior creditor status
Asmussen is a German, sitting on the ECB managing board in Frankfurt. The German government and permanent ECB board member are on board with bond buying and Weidmann, despite reservations, has not yet resigned, so it looks as though he has been persuaded to take one for the team.
Investors who bought Greek debt after ECB intervention were badly burned in the Greek restructuring. The ECB was paid in full while private investors received pennies on the euro…No one would repeat that exercise so long as the ECB got first dibs in a restructuring.
UPDATE: Asmussen says if the Bundesbank has reservations about “certain policy decisions” then that gives cause for reflection.
Pause, reflect, then buy the bejeezus out of the bond market over the Buba’s objections, most likely.
