United Kingdom
Bank of England News Release
NEWS RELEASE - Bank Agency to be based in Exeter, 29 October.
Europe's best defence against deflation
ARTICLE - Many people are worried about deflation. Severe deflation, as in the early 1930s, is catastrophic; mild deflation, as in Japan today, could become self-reinforcing. There are, moreover, similarities between early 1990s Japan and parts of Europe…
Commission to assess benefits for UK's euro entry
ARTICLE - Eleven of the world's leading economists will serve on a new commission to consider the consequences for Britain's economy of a decision to reject membership of the euro.
Fear over house prices prevented interest rate cut
UK - Fear of stoking the overheated housing market was one reason why the majority of the members of the Bank of England's rate-setting monetary policy committee decided against an interest rate reduction last month.
UK Minister admits damage of not being in euro
UK - Staying out of the euro has hit foreign investment in Britain, Patricia Hewitt the trade and industry secretary admitted yesterday as she vowed that the government would move "speedily and decisively" to a referendum if the five economic tests were…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - In this weeks special feature CentralBankNet looks at the furore surrounding recent comments from the EC President. Fur has been flying in all directions after Romano Prodi fired a broadside at the EU's Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). …
Why Britain should join the euro
REPORT - Joining the euro will deliver rising prosperity for Britain - but failing to do so soon will put our hard-won economic success at risk, a group of Britain's leading economists argue in a report published 15 October by pro-European campaign group…
UK industry shows sharp rise in support for euro
UK - Enthusiasm for the euro has risen sharply among Britain's manufacturers in the past 18 months, judging by a survey released on Monday.
House boom 'should not deter Bank' from rate cut
ARTICLE - The house price boom should no longer stand in the way of a cut in interest rates, according to Stephen Nickell, the longest-serving external member on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.
Expectation increases of UK interest rate cut
UK - The odds against a cut in interest rates before the end of the year have shortened sharply after it emerged that three members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted for a cut earlier this month.
Lobby group warns UK on delaying euro entry
UK - Eight out of the 10 states poised to join the European Union could be ready for euro membership by 2007, increasing the risk that the UK will be isolated unless it joins soon, according to Britain in Europe.
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Minutes
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee Meeting released on 23 October for the meeting of 9 and 10 October 2002. The nine MPC members voted on a proposal to maintain the repo rate at 4.0%. Six voted in favour of this, however…
Britain would be stupid to join the euro
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, UK edition, 22 October, from Theresa Villiers MEP.
Talk of banks 'capturing' Basle II wide of mark
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, UK edition, 19 October, from Simon Wills, Director, wholesale and regulation team, British Bankers' Association, London.
The inconsistency of the anti-euro lobby
ARTICLE - Consider these two assertions. We cannot possibly join the euro because sterling is grotesquely overvalued - locking in today's exchange rate would condemn the economy to stagnation. Giving up sterling would be madness - robbing Britain of a…
Complexity will not cut banks' risk
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, UK edition, 21 October.
UK Treasury cool on Gibraltar making a mint
UK - While Gordon Brown expounds his policy on the euro, efforts by Gibraltar to set up a lucrative sideline in minting the coins have run into resistance from the UK chancellor, Gordon Brown.
Through the looking glass into deflation
SPEECH - DeAnne Julius, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, assesses the risk of global deflation as quite high in her keynote speech at The Banker Awards 2002 dinner.
Why the euro numbers do not add up
UK - Baffled voters waiting to be persuaded by the economic evidence how they should vote in a referendum on the euro have been left in a state of even deeper confusion this week.
Banks put themselves at risk in Basle
ARTICLE - The Basle committee on banking supervision is once again consulting banks over the impact of its draft new capital accord. Basle II will have an important bearing on bank lending within and between countries. Despite its good intentions, the…
ECB source not aware of Duisenberg G7 rate comment
UK - A European Central Bank (ECB) source told Reuters on Thursday that he was not aware of ECB President Win Duisenberg's having told international financial leaders the central bank was ready to cut interest rates.
Ignore the ghost of deflation past
ARTICLE - Financial market crystal ball gazers are focusing on the danger of a double-dip world recession.
George on the current state of the UK economy
SPEECH - In a speech made on 15 October, Sir Edward George of the Bank of England said internationally and in the UK the monetary policy debate has shifted back to the possible need for monetary stimulus. He said There had been a "nervous breakdown" in…
The Exchange Rate and Inflation in the UK
RESEARCH - External MPC Unit Discussion Paper No.11, The Exchange Rate and Inflation in the UK by Amit Kara and Edward Nelson. The paper looks at the evidence from the UK on inflation behaviour and examines the propositions from several theoretical…