Research
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, January 2005
The Deutsche Bundesbank published the English version of its January 2005 Monthly Report on 14 February. "The available indicators continue to suggest only weak overall production growth in the final months of last year," the bank said in the report.
BIS: Inflation targeting, asset prices, imbalances
This BIS Working Paper published on 10 February attempts to conceptualize the debate regarding the role of asset prices and perceived financial imbalances in the formation of monetary policy from the perspective of theoretically optimal policy responses.
Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report, Feb 2005
Presenting the Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report to the Congress on Wednesday 16 February, Alan Greenspan said in the seven months since he last testified before the Committee, the US economic expansion has firmed, overall inflation has subsided,…
Reforming the Stability and Growth Pact
The IMF published a Discussion Paper "Reforming the Stability and Growth Pact" on Tuesday 15 February. The paper says that few changes to the rules seem necessary, but the Excessive Deficit Procedure needs a stronger focus on policies rather than…
ECB Monthly Bulletin, February 2005
The European Central Bank published its February 2005 Monthly Bulletin on Thursday saying recent data on economic activity suggest ongoing moderate growth in the fourth quarter of 2004 and a broadly unchanged situation around the new year.
Treasury papers reveal Black Wednesday losses
UK Treasury papers released on Wednesday showed that the cost of intervention in the currency market during the period before Britain's "Black Wednesday" exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992 were £3.3bn, according to the Treasury's estimates in…
Inflation differentials among euro area countries
In a paper presented at the joint American Economic Association session 'The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas Revisited' Hermann Remsperger of the Deutsche Bundesbank reviews the development, potential causes and macroeconomic implications of inflation…
Paper on optimal central bank independence
This Working Paper from Vanderbilt University formulates the problem of monetary policy delegation as a two-stage non-cooperative game between the government and the central bank.
Roubini and Setser predict end of Bretton Woods 2
Nouriel Roubini and Brad Setser have released a new paper prophesising the end of the so-called "Bretton Woods 2" system within the next two years.
Is the IMF's mandate still relevant?
In an article published on 1 February IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said that although the world has changed dramatically since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, the IMF's role remains as vital as ever.
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, December 2004
The Deutsche Bundesbank's December 2004 Monthly Report said growth in the German economy faltered in the third quarter of 2004.
RBA Statement on Monetary Policy, February 2005
The Reserve Bank of Australia published its February 2005 Statement on Monetary Policy on 7 February. After a strong year in 2004 the world economy retains momentum, with growth continuing to be led by the United States and China, the report says.
IMF paper on currency crises
This IMF Working Paper tests the implications of a number of theoretical models that attempt to highlight the dynamics behind currency crises. The empirical findings provide support for the view that a deterioration in economic fundamentals and the…
Book review - Samuel Brittan's 'Against the flow'
Samuel Brittan has been one of the Financial Times' leading columnists for nearly thirty years. This recently published book collects together the most important of his writings from the last three decades.
Capitalising central banks: A net worth approach
This IMF Working Paper provides a simple, quantitative, net worth-based, approach to assessing the need for central bank capital. It derives a concept of "core capital" as the minimum capital needed by a central bank to ensure the credibility of its…
New York Fed's Foreign Exchange Operations report
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday 3 February in its quarterly report to the US Congress that the US monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the October - December 2004 quarter.
Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review 4th Quarter 2004
The Sveriges Riksbank published its Economic Review for the 4th Quarter 2004 on Thursday 3 February. The latest issue contains an address by the Riksbank Governor "A decade of inflation targeting".
Basel Committee publish implementation update
The Basel Committee published its newsletter No. 4 on Tuesday 1 February. The purpose of this update is to inform the banking industry, the supervisory community and other interested parties about the work that is under way within the Basel Committee's…
Update on initiatives to combat money laundering
The Joint Forum published an update to "Initiatives by the BCBS, IAIS and IOSCO to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism" on Tuesday 1 February. Compiled from contributions by each of the three Secretariats, it focuses on recent guidance…
Central Bank of Ireland, Quarterly Bulletin 1/2005
The Irish central bank published its first Quarterly Bulletin of 2005 on Tuesday 1 February. The Bulletin reports that the outlook for the Irish economy in 2005 remains positive; the Bank is forecasting GNP growth for 2005 of about 4.75 per cent (GDP 5…
Banking structures in the new EU Member States
The European Central Bank published a report on Banking structures in the new EU Member States on Tuesday 1 January. The publication has been prepared by the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks.
The Maastricht inflation criterion
According to the ECB Working Paper "The Maastricht inflation criterion: How unpleasant is purgatory?" the Maastricht inflation criterion, designed in the early 1990s to bring "high-inflation" EU countries in line with "low-inflation" countries prior to…
Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Report Update
The Bank of Canada released its Update to the October Monetary Policy Report on 27 January. The Canadian economy is expected to operate a little further below its full production capacity in 2005, according to the update.
The Bank of England Quarterly Model
The Bank of England published a book on Monday 31 January - The Bank of England Quarterly Model - which contains details of the new macroeconomic model developed for use in preparing the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) quarterly economic projections.