Articles by Christopher Jeffery
Patrick Njoroge on reshaping banking and finance to work for the masses
The Central Bank of Kenya governor speaks to Christopher Jeffery and Rachael King about exchange rate intervention, food prices, banking reform and financial inclusion
Google’s Hal Varian on how technology is changing economics
Google’s chief economist talks to Christopher Jeffery about how big data and machine learning are facilitating changes in economic thinking; discusses the impact technical breakthroughs may have for central banks
Google chief economist Hal Varian offers machine-learning insights
Varian says use of single-factor equilibrium models needs to give way to dynamic state approaches; he urges central banks to experiment, even though this will result in some failures
Productivity puzzles and the neutral rate of interest
Monetary policy frameworks should be subjected to internal and external reviews to ensure they remain fit for purpose
Sponsored forum: Tapping into big data's potential
Central Banking convened a panel of experts to discuss how central banks can harness big data for their needs, hopefully without falling foul of some of the many pitfalls that await.
Investors should not be concerned about revote – Kenya’s Njoroge
Central Bank of Kenya governor is confident whoever wins presidential revote will pursue market-based policies
Perng Fai-nan on how Taiwan has eluded crisis for 20 years
Taiwan’s governor explains how pragmatic interventions have engendered two decades of financial stability, despite the island’s status as a small, open economy
Diversifying reserves carries major risks, warns Taiwan governor
Perng Fai-nan points to the records of Norway and Singapore’s SWFs as a warning about diversification risks; blames SWF outsourcing to asset managers for exacerbating EM volatility
Banks ‘still groping toward’ macro-pru transparency – Eichengreen
Central bank governance expert says central bank transparency is getting better around the world, although New Zealand, Argentina and some Central American institutions could make improvements
Eichengreen supports calls for FOMC to hold more press conferences
Governance expert says Fed is one of the most transparent central banks in the world but improved consistency of format around FOMC meetings “makes sense”
John Williams on the neutral rate of interest and mandate change
The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco speaks about the plunge in the natural rate of interest, and why it means central banks should work together to review their price stability targets
Fed’s Williams floats co-ordinated shift from 2% targets
San Francisco Fed president is concerned that extraordinary, ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ monetary policies will be more frequent in a lower-growth world
Indonesia considers new riskier tranche for reserves – Budianto
Head of reserves says political risks are more of a worry than portfolio flows; explains how Bank Indonesia’s strategy reinforces market development in 30-minute interview
Brexit drives a wedge between BoE and markets
Market expectations of future UK interest rates appear out of line with views expressed by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. It comes at a time when Brexit ‘news’ often trumps economic data
Bullard raises concerns about east coast dominance of the Fed
St Louis Fed president is not worried about the major shake-up of the board of governors; points to reducing the influence of the New York Fed on the FOMC
St Louis’s Bullard on the future of the Fed and its monetary policy record
St Louis Fed president James Bullard rails against east coast dominance, favours aspects of the Choice Act and says Fed monetary policy was a “factor” that fuelled crisis
Are central banks allowing markets to get a bad name?
Dispute over the role of offshore derivatives trading in Asia raises important questions about the role of financial markets in a world increasingly dominated by short-term trading
Indonesian banks will switch to reserves averaging in July
Latest move in Bank Indonesia’s major overhaul of monetary policy transmission and efforts to deepen financial markets
Indonesian deputy Perry on revolutionising monetary and financial policy
Perry Warjiyo explains the central bank’s radical overhaul of monetary policy operations, market deepening and financial inclusion in Indonesia
Tackling the ‘human agency’ problem
Central banks are readying their communication strategies to mitigate a populist backlash against their post-crisis policies
Kohn worried about weight of expectations on Federal Reserve
The weight of expectations on the US Fed may be too high; the US is not as well placed as the UK to tackle another major crisis, says the former Fed vice-chair
Former Fed vice-chair Kohn on populism, top central bankers
Donald Kohn speaks to Christopher Jeffery about his fears for the Fed amid mounting populism, why he has few policy regrets and his experiences working with some of the world’s top central bankers
Croatia’s Vujčić on tackling NPLs and home-host supervision
Croatian National Bank governor Boris Vujčić explains why dealing firmly with NPLs via a ‘provisioning clock’ does not choke growth while detailing the benefits of ‘home-host’ dialogues, such as the Vienna Initiative
Ukraine’s Gontareva on one of the toughest jobs in central banking
The outgoing National Bank of Ukraine governor speaks about transforming the central bank while engaging in wartime deficit funding and overhauling the banking sector