Volker Wieland, managing director of the Frankfurt-based Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability and member of the German Council of Economic Experts, joins Marcin Stepan, deputy head of meetings at OMFIF. They discuss the key questions ahead of the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting on 24 January, which takes place against a backdrop of weak economic growth in the euro area and China, uncertainties in the US relating to escalating trade wars, and the threat of a looming global recession.