United States
People: Carmen Reinhart to be World Bank chief economist
Carmen Reinhart to take over from Penny Goldberg at World Bank; BIS picks Hong Kong hub head; Libra Association appoints chief executive
Economists challenge standard notion of labour market recovery
Paper on post-crisis recoveries questions demand shortfall narrative
Covid-19 biggest threat to Fed mandate ‘in our lifetimes’ – Clarida
Fed may not provide further forward guidance until September, Richard Clarida says
FOMC considers more aggressive forward guidance
Officials discussed state-contingent forward guidance and yield curve control, April minutes show
UK issues negative-yielding bond as inflation wilts
Inflation dropped sharply in April amid the coronavirus lockdown
Bank of Italy paper analyses Fed’s ‘gradualist’ policy
Monetary policy had stronger effects when markets thought Fed was “acting gradually” – researchers
Final Fed lending facilities to go live this month
Complexity of main street facility has been “in a class by itself”, Jerome Powell says, as lawmakers criticise delays
US firms may need big investment cuts - Chicago Fed paper
Cutting investment may be public corporations’ most attractive response to pandemic - researchers
Most Fed emergency funds not yet spent, lawmakers find
Less than 8% of the $500bn set aside for Fed and Treasury lending has been spent, report finds
Lower-income households feel worst of Covid-19 economic shock – Fed survey
Nearly 40% of low-earning households faced at least one job loss in March, survey finds
Fed flags ‘elevated’ risk of financial stability pressures
System coped with immediate Covid-19 stresses, but trouble may be building, central bank says
PBoC’s post-pandemic policy is still up in the air
The Chinese central bank has resisted radical easing, but with the NPC meeting this week, more loosening could be on the way, despite debt-level concerns, writes Hui Feng
Podcast: Financial innovation and stability in the US
In the latest episode of the FedSpeak podcast, the Atlanta Fed’s Larry Wall discusses stablecoins, reserve currencies and credit loss accounting through the lens of financial stability
Pandemic debt will test policy-makers – Richmond Fed research
Authorities may opt for “financial repression” policies with central banks keeping rates low – paper
Fed not considering negative rates – Powell
More fiscal support may be needed, as Fed’s lending will only be effective “for a while”, says Fed chair
Covid-19 may accelerate US firms’ turn away from China – New York Fed
Import data shows firms have used non-Chinese suppliers to replace some lost trade
US MMFs transmitted Covid-19 stress to banks – BIS research
Banks outside the “epicentre” of the dollar squeeze still felt the effects, researchers say
Fed will begin ETF purchases today
Central bank outlines fund selection strategy but keeps investors guessing on specifics
Scale of Covid-19 impact shows up starkly in US stats
All of the US’s key macroeconomic indicators point to a dramatic slump
US banks should prepare for uneven recovery – Patrick Harker
Banks “shouldn’t be issuing large dividends at the moment”, Philadelphia Fed chief says
Fed set to adopt ‘elements’ of price-level targeting
Covid-19 could act as a catalyst for a Janet Yellen-supported Fed move to adopt elements of price-level targeting. But questions remain about the timing of such a move
New York Fed paper finds possible failings in US pandemic aid
Research on Paycheck Protection Program says some heavily virus-affected areas of US may be losing out
US lockdown policy ‘too restrictive’ – Minneapolis Fed paper
Researchers model optimal lockdown policy for lowest aggregate welfare cost to society
Could engineering higher inflation help manage fiscal deficits?
Fiscal and monetary co-ordination could be a workable option for the Covid-19 recovery, Chicago Fed paper finds