It seems as if the European Central Bank is tired of people complaining it should abandon its price-stability mandate. Because cartoons make everything easier to understand, the ECB has begun using cartoon characters to make the case for price stability. The pamphlet (pdf) with the cartoon characters and explanations is nice, but the video (WMV), and its star the Inflation Monster, is eight minutes of economic fun. More information, including alternative video formats, can be found on the main “educational” site.

Although I appreciate the cartoon, it is not the reason I support the 2-percent inflation-rate target; instead, I prefer to look at the research, including European history. That research suggests the best path toward increased growth is a package of structural reforms. Doing so maintains the existing rules and, therefore, avoids putting the European project on a slippery slope of economic and institutional stagnation–something the collapse of the Stability and Growth Pact is already doing.

Turning toward the ECB to stimulate growth is more surprising because the Lisbon Agenda is a set of agreed upon structural reforms designed to spur the eurozone’s economy. Instead of blaming the central bankers and looking to them for an easy out of a slow growth patch, politicians and citizens should work toward solutions and reforms that build upon existing agreements (e.g., the inflation-rate target). Doing so avoids creating credibility problems and facilitates future agreements.