Federal Reserve System
Communication technology helps explain productivity puzzle – Fed paper
Properly accounting for ICT services produces “very large” boost to US labour productivity figures, authors say
Fed’s Powell: banks still have important role in payments
Fintech is disrupting the sector, but banks still form a major part of payments infrastructure, so they must be included in work on faster payments, says governor
The candidates knocking at Yellen’s door
Leading academics and economists weigh the competency of the top candidates for the Fed job – and how likely they are to win Trump’s favour
Fed’s Powell: normalisation will be ‘manageable’ for emerging markets
Fed governor says current capital flows appear to be in line with fundamentals; corporate debts a vulnerability but “situation is not alarming”
FOMC split over inflation forecasts, minutes show
Participants expressed concern that low inflation this year might reflect not only transitory factors
Fed policy has had bigger impact on global liquidity since 2009
A 25bp rate cut causes a cross-border lending growth to rise of two percentage points, versus 0.8 before the crisis, researchers find
Fed should have adopted BoE approach to mortgage lending – Tarullo
BoE’s approach to leveraged lending aimed to prevent “hard stop”, Cunliffe says; caps on mortgage lending were enforced by UK central bank in 2014
People: Quarles confirmed for Fed role; Nigerian deputy nominated
Randal Quarles approved for Fed supervisory role; banker and gender equality activist picked for Nigerian deputy position
Markets upbeat on strengthening US wage growth figures
Non-farm payrolls drop slightly but wages appear to be gathering pace; figures impacted by hurricanes Irma and Harvey
Disagreement over inflation expectations weakens monetary policy – Bundesbank paper
Research uses data from Fed’s survey of professional forecasters from 1968 to 2017
Theory of inflation dynamics is not good enough, warns Tarullo
Former Fed governor says economists have “almost paradoxical” mix of scepticism towards and reliance on shaky concepts
Yellen defends contentious FSOC decision on AIG
Top regulators narrowly vote to remove AIG’s designation as systemic, exposing sharply contradicting views on the Financial Stability Oversight Committee
Fed paper constructs ‘loan frontier’ for mortgages
Method mimics literature on estimating production frontiers, allowing authors to study credit provision around the 2008 crisis
Fed fines HSBC $175m for unsafe forex practices
The London-headquartered bank has been ordered to improve its practices by a Fed cease-and-desist order
‘We still don’t do the basics well’ – Chris Gale on cyber security
Central banks are doing “aggressive” and “pretty cool” things to shore up cyber defences, says former Boston Fed VP; notes more could be done in the realm of information sharing
Don’t underestimate the Fed’s balance sheet unwind – Fischer
Stanley Fischer offers advice to colleagues in his final scheduled speech before leaving in October: “never say never”
EBA and US agencies agree framework for cross-border resolution
Document lays out principles for information sharing and future crisis management agreements
Legal independence ‘not 100% insurance’, warns Posen
Academic says central banks have to look at the political context when policymaking, while senior figures say it is the responsibility of central banks to speak out
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
Yellen stresses commitment to ‘gradual’ rate hikes
Fed chair examines possible factors behind disappointing inflation results, but concludes gradual rate hikes are still warranted
Fed paper calls for rethink of conditions for setting capital controls
Policymakers should also consider how external shocks affect the borrowing capacity of the country, researchers say
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
FOMC triggers balance sheet wind-down
Fed will begin allowing securities to roll off its balance sheet from October; Janet Yellen stresses changes will proceed gradually