Lagarde Walks the Entire Eurozone Inflation Corridor on Foot, One Apple per Capital, Warning « Le Choc Est Durable »
ECB President Christine Lagarde has begun a walking tour of all eurozone capitals, delivering a single apple to each central bank and personally reading the inflation rate aloud in every town square she passes through.
EPREVILLE-EN-LIEUVIN — Christine Lagarde set off on foot from the apple festival in Normandy on Saturday morning, carrying a wicker basket of apples and a hand-painted sign reading « LE CHOC EST DURABLE », and announced she will walk to every eurozone capital to deliver one apple to each central bank governor and read the inflation rate aloud in the main square.
« I have decided that the shock is durable, and therefore so am I », Lagarde told a crowd of apple growers, who had gathered for the annual festival organized by Hervé Morin. « Each governor will receive one apple. I will read the figure. They will nod. Then I will walk to the next capital. »
The first leg of the journey, from Épreville-en-Lieuvin to Frankfurt, is expected to take several weeks. Lagarde has requested that the European Central Bank's main building be temporarily relocated to a farmhouse near the route so she can keep working while walking. A rotating team of deputy governors will carry her desk, chair and a small filing cabinet in a trailer behind her.
By the time she reaches the second capital, Lagarde said, she expects the entire Governing Council to have joined her on foot, each member carrying a single apple and a laminated card with the latest inflation figure. « We will walk until the shock is no longer durable », she said. « Or until we run out of apples. »
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