Monetary Policy
Emergency Fed cut an effort to appear decisive
The Federal Reserve voted to slash rates by 75 basis points to demonstrate decisiveness, minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) January meeting reveal.
Hanke attacks Fed at IEA seminar
Professor Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University rebuked the Federal Reserve for its conduct of monetary policy at a conference on Tuesday 26 February on "The State of the Economy" hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.
Prices force China to stick with policy stance
A top Chinese central banker confirmed that the People's Bank's monetary policy stance will remain tight after inflation hit a fresh 11-year high.
Fed's Fisher warns on inflation expectations
Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, has said that the Fed must be careful to avoid "stirring the embers of inflation".
Sentance warns of slowdown
Andrew Sentance, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has warned of the possibility of a "more significant and sustained" slowdown than those of the recent past.
Stagflation problem for the Fed?
The Federal Reserve faces a problem that the United States has not seen for many years: stagflation.
Barker concerned with risks to growth
Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has outlined why she is increasingly concerned over downside risks to growth.
Garganas highlights credit market uncertainty
Nicholas Garganas, the governor of the Bank of Greece, acknowledged that the economic impact of credit market developments may be larger than expected.
Bank of England's February minutes
The minutes from the 6 and 7 February meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee show that eight out of the nine members voted to cut the Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%.
Optimal transparency of monetary policy committees
Revealing the diversity of views in monetary policy committees makes future monetary policy more predictable, a new paper from Germany's central bank finds.
Fed's Evans sees pause in rate cuts
Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, said that the recent interest rate reductions taken by the Fed should be sufficient to help promote moderate growth over time and mitigate the risks to economic activity.
Mixed results for inflation targeting
A study by the Bank of Canada finds that the ability of inflation-targeting central banks to hit their targets varies considerably. The study, published in the Bank of Canada's Winter Review, looked at 21 countries over the period 1990 to 2007.
Australia considered bigger rise
Minutes from the February board meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia show that the central bank considered raising its cash target by a bigger margin than the quarter percentage point rise announced on 5 February.
BoE's Besley sees reduction in consumption growth
Speaking at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, on 18 February, Timothy Besley, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, said that recent shocks to the UK economy "have created a challenge to policy."
Dynamic pricing and imperfect common knowledge
This paper by Kristoffer Nimark of the Reserve Bank of Australia introduces private information into the dynamic pricing decision of firms in an otherwise standard new Keynesian model by adding an idiosyncratic component to firms' marginal costs.
Japanese rates on hold, strong growth won't last
The Bank of Japan opted to leave rates unchanged for the 14th straight month and said the recent surge in growth would prove short-lived.
Eurozone growth falls, raises chances of Q2 cut
Chances of the European Central Bank (ECB) cutting rates later this year rose as data revealed the pace of growth slackened in the eurozone in the fourth quarter of last year.
Turkey continues cutting rates
The Central Bank of Turkey has voted to cut rates for the sixth straight month.
Chances of big cut diminish on Bernanke testimony
Market predictions of another cut to the federal funds rate of at least 50 basis points looked far from certain, following comments from Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Iceland holds rates at 13.75%
The Central Bank of Iceland has kept rates at 13.75% in spite of a poorer inflation outlook.
Korea keeps rates at 5%
The Bank of Korea opted to hold rates for the sixth straight month in the face of rising inflation.
IMF head wants harmonisation of collateral rules
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has called on central banks to coordinate policy on open-market operations.
Riksbank surprises markets with rate hike
The Riksbank confounded expectations on Wednesday by hiking rates to 4.25%.
Old Lady stays cautious in latest Inflation Report
The Bank of England maintained its delicate balancing act between emphasising the upside risks to inflation and signalling that it still has room to cut rates in its latest Inflation Report, published Wednesday 13 February.