Monetary Policy
BoE’s McCafferty denies Monetary Policy Committee has ‘gone soft’
MPC member highlights positive signs for growth but says inflation is ‘more concerning’; expects inflation to remain above target but says a response is not yet necessary
UK economists divided over BoJ easing
Treasury Select Committee witnesses debate whether BoJ radical easing will overcome decade of deflation; economists fear an ‘unruly spike’ in yields when quantitative easing is unwound
SNB paper analyses relationship between monetary policy and financial integration
Study finds that monetary policy can have a larger effect on output and inflation under conditions of greater financial and trade integration
IMFC advocates ‘pragmatic’ approach to resisting capital flows
Committee of the IMF says easing by advanced economies is justified; emerging markets should use a variety of tools to lean against the resulting capital inflows
ECB’s Asmussen deflects criticism over lack of monetary policy action
ECB executive board member says quantitative easing would not work well applied to Europe; stresses continued political commitment to banking union
Riksbank deputy Lars Svensson steps down
Riksbank’s ‘most committed dove’ will leave the central bank in May after failing to win the other members of the Executive Board round to a more expansionary monetary policy
Fed’s Raskin assesses impact of inequality on monetary policy
Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin says inequality in US could affect transmission of monetary policy to real economy; predicts ‘increasingly potent’ policy as house prices rise
BoE lending figures add credence to FLS scepticism
Business lending continues to contract in the UK, but pressure still mounts on the ECB to take steps to address eurozone recession
Thai central bank and government divided over rates
Bank of Thailand has resisted cutting rates in 2013 in the face of a strongly appreciating baht; IMF director says currency reflects the country and region's rebalancing
Bolivian hyperinflation re-modelled using ‘Bayesian approach'
Paper from Latin American monetary studies centre takes new approach to modelling short-lived episodes of hyperinflation
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: King’s efforts to be heard hit some marks
In his calls for reform, Bank of England governor Mervyn King has ploughed a lonely furrow. But some of his efforts are paying off
Kocherlakota warns of consequences of ‘mandate-consistent' lower rates
Minneapolis Fed president highlights risks accompanying persistent low rates, but argues rates must go lower still to be consistent with dual mandate
Lagarde says ECB has ‘room to manoeuvre' on rates
IMF managing director says it up to ECB when to cut rates but calls for co-ordinated policies worldwide to shift ‘from three-speed to full speed' global recovery
BoJ's Miyao sees weaker yen as key to ending deflation
Leading proponent of monetary easing highlights a change in the dollar-yen exchange rate as key to hitting Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target
Czech bulletin dissects monetary policy transmission
An economic research bulletin compiled by the Czech National Bank explores relationship between monetary policy and real economy in five articles
King says independence is a tricky course to steer
BoE governor says central banks are expected to be partially, fully and non-independent in different parts of mandate, which is almost impossible; outvoted again at latest MPC meet
RBA counter-cyclical moves will be 'inevitable', says Commonwealth Bank economist
RBA monetary policy minutes released yesterday say scope remains for rate cuts later this year; commentators expect macro-prudential tools to 'become inevitable' to avoid a housing bubble
Fed’s Yellen sees little evidence of stability danger from easy policy
Janet Yellen defends accommodative stance of US monetary policy; says there is no ‘pervasive evidence’ that policies are causing overheating
Draghi faces hostile Strasbourg reception but questions track record of SME lending schemes
ECB president grilled by European Parliament over the inability of small businesses to access credit; says action is 'absolutely essential'
Paper finds pro-cyclical labour market in the great recession
Researchers claim US labour force participation since 2007 violates conventional wisdom on acyclical behaviour
World Bank says east Asia and Pacific at risk of ‘overheating’
Asia-Pacific policymakers urged to consider withdrawing stimulus – fiscal and monetary – as region’s larger economies reach their productive capacity and face inflationary pressures
Eurozone problems still ‘looming large’, says Draghi
ECB president Mario Draghi says ECB’s policy not affecting all eurozone countries; central bank cannot tackle root causes of crisis and urges improved competitiveness
Central bank remits have little impact on policy
Bank of England MPC member says the weight central banks ascribe to output and employment makes little difference to the monetary policy they follow
New DSGE model finds anticipated 'low for long' policy can cause a boom
Finnish paper, inspired by US policy of the early 2000s, finds combination of too-low-for-too-long interest rate policy and optimism leads to an increase in overall leverage