Opinion/Monetary Policy
A higher yuan: When, not if
Sooner or later, China will have to hike its currency against the dollar, this article argues. The peg which keeps the yuan's value fixed against the greenback, has been the 'bete noire' of U.S. manufacturers, who complain that it gives Beijing an unfair…
The Fed's muddled minutes
Drawing the correct conclusions from the Federal Reserve's minutes is tricky, according to this article. The minutes are meant to portray the nuanced discussions that led to the FOMC's policymaking statement. In that sense, the minutes can be said to…
IMF on interest-rate liberalization in China
A recently published article by two members of the IMF's China Division looks at the recent decision by the People's Bank of China to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years. The liberalization of rates is a landmark change, it says, and…
Rushed Fed minutes could use a good rewrite man
The Federal Reserve's decision to publish the minutes of its FOMC meetings with a three-week instead of a six-week lag seems to have sacrificed clarity for speed, according to this article. The thought processes reflected in the minutes come across as…
Norway's Gjedrem: 'Monetary policy is functioning'
In an article published by Aftenposten on 3 January, Norges Bank governor Svein Gjedrem said the Norwegian economy is growing at a solid pace, and there are prospects that growth will remain high in the year ahead.
A not-so-merry Christmas message
Giving the Henry Thornton lecture at the Cass Business School in London on Wednesday 15 December, the economic historian Barry Eichengreen gave his view on the international financial system, and issued a worrying warning to those that downplay the…
Bank of Japan, a role model for the ECB?
This article looks at recent comments from Gerhard Schroder that Europe "can learn something from Japan and its great monetary policy." Japan is the only major industrialized economy in the past 70 years to experience prolonged deflation and now its much…
Competing visions of EU regulation
At a conference in his honour at the London School of Economics, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and FSA chairman Callum McCarthy presented competing visions of financial regulation in Europe. Paul Brione reports.
Implementing Basel II in Europe
In Europe, the task of ensuring a smooth transition to the Basel II capital rules for banks falls on the new Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS). Neil Courtis spoke to CEBS chairman, Jose Maria Roldan, for CentralBankNet.
China unlikely to revalue the yuan soon
Expectations for the revaluation of China's yuan have become a hot topic in and outside China since October. This article looks at the situation and includes recent comments from officials at the People's Bank of China and Premier Wen Jiabao.
Chasing dirty money
Ted Truman, a former senior official at the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve, has turned his focus on the fight against money laundering. Paul Brione reports for CentralBankNet.
Interview: Jacques de Larosière
Key European countries are guilty of “systematic slippage” in fiscal affairs. So says the former managing director of the IMF and governor of the Banque de France, Jacques de Larosière, in this week’s CentralBankNet Monday special
Devaluation dangers for the United States
Large cross-border holdings of foreign assets and liabilities mean that exchange rate adjustment has grown in importance relative to the traditional trade balance channel, argue the authors of a new CEPR discussion paper. The paper empirically explores…
The leak in China's banking system
The People's Bank of China's surprise decision to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years on 28 October prompted much speculation on the reason for the move. Some commentators said it marks the beginning of a liberalized interest-rate…
Mexico on an upswing
Mexico's inflation has come down and the economy has recovered sharply, but can the central bank keep up the good work? Benedict Mander reports for CentralBankNet.
RBA fights to preserve secrecy
The Australian newspaper is attempting to have released the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's meetings and voting records for 2003/04 released under Australia's Freedom of Information laws. But the nine-member board -- whose six external…
The roughest terrain in China's central banking
This article makes comparisons between China's first interest-rate increase since 1995 recently and the actions of Paul Volcker at the Federal Reserve back in October 1979. PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan needs to bring fresh thinking and unconventional…
Asian central banks on the horns of policy dilemma
These are tricky times for Asian central banks, this article reports. With semi-public wranglings between central banks and finance ministries, this is one of the least predictable environments for policy forecasting since the 1997-98 Asian financial…
Presidential victor replaces Greenspan
This article argues that for whoever wins the US presidential election, choosing a successor to Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan may be the biggest economic choice that the election victor will face. Kerry may go for Robert Rubin or Lawrence…
Why the Bank of Japan keeps on doing nothing
For pretty much all of 2004, the Bank of Japan has done nothing. And looking ahead to 2005, it's not expected to do a whole lot more, this article suggests. That the BOJ isn't having a serious discussion of deflation ending anytime soon throws cold water…
Turkish delight at monetary credibility
CentralBankNet always tries to catch up with central bank governors who visit London. Here, Nick Carver reports on Turkey's successful struggle for monetary credibility in Turkey.
Asian central banks should follow S Korea's lead
The more Asian central banks try to convince the markets that their judgment on interest rates isn't clouded by political interference, the less anyone believes them, this article says. It suggests policy makers from Jakarta and Manila to Bangkok and…
Fed debates policy for post-Greenspan era
This article reports that battle lines are drawn at the Federal Reserve between those who favour formal inflation goals and those who don't, with the debate heating up ahead of Alan Greenspan's retirement. It cites Roger Ferguson and Ben Bernanke at the…
Central bankers need to learn new tricks
This article speculates as to whether central bankers play five-a-side football in policy meetings. Or at least, there is no point in them doing anything else, it says. With complete credibility, they really don't have to do very much at all. But…