Reaching a Wider Audience: Is the ECB Trending?

Central banks are increasingly recognising the importance of communicating with the wider public. We document that interest in monetary policy is intermittent, usually linked to major decisions and/or personnel changes. The ECB should not expect that every one of its decisions is noticed by the general public. The Monetary Dialogue fulfils the typical function of a representative democracy in which citizens delegate to their elected representatives the task of monitoring policy implementation by independent institutions. This document was provided by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.