Gold Standard
Switch to gold standard could stabilise prices – Philadelphia Fed research
Hypothetical return to monetary system would only lead to short-term price movements, study finds
The canary in the goldmine
Gold accumulation may herald broader concerns about dollar holdings, writes Jennifer Johnson-Calari
Book notes: Can’t we just print more money?, by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning
A genuinely readable but non-neutral introduction to economics
Book notes: Two hundred years of muddling through, by Duncan Weldon
Insights into UK economic history offer lessons for today’s policy-makers
Book notes: Imagining the Fed, by Nicolas Thompson
A worthwhile perspective on the evolution of such an important institution, but a shame that it isn’t a longer and broader examination
Book notes: Empire of silver, by Jin Xu
A useful introduction to China’s monetary history, focusing on the last 1,000 years, but not the easiest of reads throughout
Book notes: Robert Triffin, by Ivo Maes with Ilaria Pasotti
Triffin’s story is well told by Maes, whose extensive personal and academic research shines through on page after page
‘Unstable, unreliable and temporary’: paper explores global co-operation
Policy-makers should heed JM Keynes’ 1919 warning, say Michael Bordo and Catherine Schenk
The IMF’s $650bn SDR allocation and a future ‘digital SDR’
Focus is needed on widening SDR use in payments and the creation of a ‘digital SDR’, to support a large allocation of ‘official’ IMF SDRs, writes Warren Coats
South African Reserve Bank: the first 100 years
Central bankers and academics reflect on a tumultuous first century for Africa’s oldest central bank
Governance Benchmarks 2021 report – the frameworks that rule central banks
How are central banks governed? Benchmarking data offers insights on appointments, legal structures, powers, decision-making bodies, independence and more
Book notes: The political economy of the special relationship, by Jeremy Green
Unsatisfactory story about the decline and resurgence of the UK’s importance in the global financial system
US Senate rejects Shelton for Fed job
Republicans fail to muster enough support for controversial candidate, but second vote is possible
How gold has regained its shine
In a year of exceptional circumstances – especially true for gold, which, in August, saw an all-time high price – Invesco explores how pandemic-driven uncertainty has returned the precious metal to the spotlight of the global monetary system.
Book notes: Money, by Geoffrey Ingham
The incompatible theories of money: Ingham reveals the fundamental clash of ideas that shape the environment in which all central banks operate
Diversification makes gold shine brighter – panellists
Negative sovereign yields boost gold’s attractiveness among reserve managers
Former Fed officials urge Senate to reject Shelton
Trump nominee’s views are “extreme”, officials say, as two Republican senators pledge opposition
Shelton and Waller reach final stage of Fed nomination process
Both candidates received enough backing in first of two key votes, but neither escaped criticism
Fed set to adopt ‘elements’ of price-level targeting
Covid-19 could act as a catalyst for a Janet Yellen-supported Fed move to adopt elements of price-level targeting. But questions remain about the timing of such a move
Debts, deficits, central banks and inflation
Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood ask what insights history can provide for central banks and governments managing abrupt, large increases in debt