Monetary policy
The case for 4% inflation
Since the double-digit inflation of the 1970s, central banks have sought to reduce inflation and keep it low. This column argues that recent history teaches us that inflation has fallen too low. Raising inflation targets to 4% would have little cost, and it would make it easier for central banks to end future recessions.
Integrating monetary policy and macroprudential regulation
The global financial crisis has shattered the confidence of many established principles of monetary policy and financial supervision. This column argues that the two should not remain separate, and maps out the major challenges faced by their complementary implementation.
Communication by the European Central Bank: Inconsistent, yet effective?
The European Central Bank has often been criticised for inconsistencies in its policy communications. At the same time, several papers show how ECB communication has been effective. This column resolves this paradox by providing evidence showing that ECB introductory statements were, in fact, quite consistent over the first decade of its operations.
Rapid current-account rebalancing in the southern Eurozone
Recent data show that the current-account deficits of Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have improved at a rapid pace and are actually close to being balanced. This column reviews recent research that shows this adjustment has been remarkably fast. Compared to mid-2008, these four nations have switched expenditures at a rate that is much higher than the typical rate observed during large rebalancing episodes. A key requirement for a return to a post-crisis Eurozone is thus on its way to being met.
Policy preferences of central bankers and the design of a monetary-policy committee
Debate about who should be on central-bank committees has resurfaced in recent years. Is it better to appoint experienced central bankers, financiers, NGO workers or civil servants? This column argues that variations in voting patterns change with career background. Evidence suggests that if central banks want a wide range of policy preferences, then getting more academics on committees might be a reasonable strategy for better policy
Other Recent Articles:
- Fiscal forecasts: Governments vs independent agencies
- Why is this global recovery different?
- Macroprudential rebalancing
- Augmented inflation targeting: Le roi est mort, vive le roi
- Measuring the clarity of central-bank communication
- Time for the Eurozone to shift gear: Issuing euros to finance new spending
- Fiscal consolidation and implications of social spending for long-term fiscal sustainability
- The interaction between monetary and macroprudential policies
- The Brazilian competitiveness cliff
- Helicopter money
- The influence of the Taylor rule on US monetary policy
- Misplaced concerns about central-bank independence
- Monetary policy and firing costs
- Monetary targetry: Might Carney make a difference?
- Monetary policy and banking supervision
- Central banks can phase in nominal GDP targets without damaging the inflation anchor
- Monetary policy in Latin America: Where are we going?
- Quantitative easing and unconventional monetary policy
- Hedging macroeconomic risk in the Eurozone: Fiscal union versus capital markets
- Swiss National Bank under attack
Most Read
- Fiscal consolidation: At what speed?Blanchard, Leigh
- Public debt and economic growth, one more timePanizza, Presbitero
- Escaping liquidity traps: Lessons from the UK’s 1930s escapeCrafts
- The lessons of the North Atlantic crisis for economic theory and policyStiglitz
- Helicopter money as a policy optionReichlin, Turner, Woodford
- A tale of two depressions: What do the new data tell us? February 2010 updateEichengreen, O’Rourke
- Educated in America: College graduates and high school dropoutsHeckman, LaFontaine
- Eurozone breakup would trigger the mother of all financial crisesEichengreen
- Debt, deleveraging, and the liquidity trap: A new modelKrugman
- Panic-driven austerity in the Eurozone and its implicationsDe Grauwe, Ji
