What do Taylor Swift concerts have to do with inflation? When could the digital euro be out? And what will our future euro banknotes look like?

In this special #AskECB episode, our guests answer your questions as we mark The ECB Podcast’s fifth birthday.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 5 October.

In this episode:

01:40 – Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and inflation
Can individual events, like concerts or football tournaments, affect inflation? Guido Wolswijk, who works on monetary policy at the ECB, explains what “funflation” is and how we monitor it.

8:14 – Our 2% target
What happens if one euro area country has an inflation rate higher than 2%? What can the ECB do in such cases?

11:19 – The digital euro
What might the digital euro be like? Erica Ricci, who works in the digital euro team, tells us about the project and its next steps.

14:50 – The digital euro and private payment providers
What could users expect from the digital euro? And would it replace apps like PayPal in the euro area?

17:38 – New euro banknotes
When will the design contest for our future euro banknotes begin? Satu Hietanen from the banknotes team tells us more about the upcoming competition to design the third series of euro banknotes.

Further reading:

Why are stable prices important
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-more/html/stableprices.en.html

Two percent target inflation
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/mopo/strategy/pricestab/html/index.en.html

What would a digital euro be
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/features/html/index.en.html

Future banknotes
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/future_banknotes/html/index.en.html

Explore our banknotes in 3D
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/current/denominations/html/index.en.html#es2-100

European Central Bank
www.ecb.europa.eu

European Banking Supervision https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html