Federal Reserve System
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
People: Portugal’s central bank appoints new deputy governors
Portuguese board also gains two new members; economist joins RBI board
Banks improve governance on Fed stress test feedback
Dual reviews of stress testing models and scenarios becoming the norm
Leading asset manager warns policy normalisation ‘may never occur’
Northern Trust believes monetary policy is unlikely to revert to pre-crisis levels; observers say central banks are broadly taking the right approach
Low-income families suffer higher inflation rates, paper finds
The differences in prices occur in the same categories of goods
Falling import prices and lower expectations hamper Fed, Brainard says
Long period of low inflation may affect households’ inflation expectations, Fed board member says
Q&A: Asia’s caught in the Basel crossfire – Andrew Sheng
Veteran regulator says international standards may be the wrong medicine for emerging markets
Stanley Fischer announces October resignation from Fed
Vice-chair to step down in October “for personal reasons”, eight months before scheduled
The Treasury could make QE exit faster and smoother
Swapping longer-term bonds for Treasury bills or floating-rate bonds would expedite the process of reducing bloated central bank balance sheets
St Louis Fed explains Fed’s plans to unwind balance sheet
Fed expected to stop replacing maturing securities to reduce $4.5 trillion balance sheet
New board oversight will not “lower the bar” – Fed’s Powell
The proposed new regulation will not lower the bar for boards or lighten the load of directors, says the Fed governor
Fed paper explores balance sheet effects of liquidity rules
Study of how banks allocate portfolios of liquid assets highlights implications for monetary policy
People: RBNZ continues reshuffle; Fed appoints payments leader
Mills to fill Bascand’s shoes at RBNZ as assistant governor moves to financial stability; St Louis Fed vice-president to initiate faster payments project for the US central bank; and more
Draghi and Yellen issue warnings on regulatory rollback
The two central bankers used their speeches at Jackson Hole to focus on the dangers of abandoning the lessons of 2008
Fed announces Libor alternative
Secured Overnight Financing Rate will measure overnight treasury financing transactions
Book notes: The Myth of Independence, by Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel
Politicians would do well to heed the authors’ lessons, but their economic analysis could be stronger, writes Niels Bünemann
Allan Meltzer (1928–2017)
Paying tribute to the contributions of the late Allan Meltzer, leading economist and Central Banking Editorial Advisory Board member
Oil prices feed through to core inflation – Fed paper
Research finds changes in the oil price have a small but statistically significant impact on core inflation
Archive – EMU: a sceptical US view
Allan Meltzer of the American Economic Association explains why he is worried about a union by the back door; first published in November 1997
Fed’s liquidity policies more restrictive than other central banks
NY Fed article compares the Fed’s collateral and liquidity frameworks to other major central banks, finding the US central bank is much more limited in its operations
FOMC divided on how to proceed with policy
Strong jobs growth, but below-target inflation leaves some members emphasising room to be patient, while others warn of a potential overshoot
Regulators wary of machine learning in bank models
Banks acknowledge they “cannot hide behind a complex tool” to assess interconnectedness
Book notes: The Limits of the Market, by Paul de Grauwe
De Grauwe has produced a concise analysis into how markets and governments react with one another; but his lack of familiarity with the history of economic thought is surprising