Financial crisis
When experts fail
Frank Vibert explores the lessons of the crisis for regulators. The key is not to re-politicise markets but to improve the disciplines that regulators follow
When to exit?
In Central Banking’s second webinar, sponsored by BNP Paribas Securities Services, Charles Goodhart, Lucrezia Reichlin, Paul Mortimer-Lee and Gabriel Stein discussed when central banks should raise rates
The fight for the Fed
Malan Rietveld looks back at Ben Bernanke’s bruising confirmation hearings
Has Bernanke broken his promise to Friedman?
The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve have helped to avoid a second Great Depression, but Bernanke’s emphasis on credit has been misguided, says Tim Congdon
Audit the Federal Reserve?
An independent institute for monetary statistics is needed in the United States, says William Barnett. Expanded congressional audit would be a second best alternative.
The winds of change for central banks
John Singleton argues that the forces pushing for a change in central bankers’ relations with governments are currently very strong, as they were in the 1930s
Crises dampen productivity: IMF paper
Rising costs negatively impact factor productivity and have implications for both monetary and fiscal policy, International Monetary Fund research finds
Price-level targeting: a new monetary approach
As criticism of inflation targeting grows, economists and central bankers are taking a closer look at price-level targeting as an alternative. Malan Rietveld reports
Forget inflation targeting
Central banks should let markets set interest rates and let prices fluctuate in the short to medium term, argues Brendan Brown
Iceland can afford to repay UK and Holland: MPC member
Icelandic rate-setter says country neither too small nor weak to make Icesave repayments, but criticises “ungenerous” deal given by British and Dutch governments
Governors back greater role for monetary aggregates
Christian Noyer, Glenn Stevens and Duvurri Subbarao say more attention must be paid on monetary aggregates
Chile on the pros and cons of connectivity
Central Bank of Chile looks at how shocks are transmitted across markets and banking systems
Iceland’s government knew banks were in trouble: Wellink
Dutch central bank president Nout Wellink says his Icelandic counterparts had informed the government that the country’s banking sector was in trouble
Africa mostly sheltered from remittances drop
International Monetary Fund looks at the impact of the global economic crisis on African GDP via the remittance channel
HKMA’s Chan: Asian Crisis lessons were forgotten
Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Norman Chan on drawing lessons from financial crisis
A new default and credit risk model for Korea
Bank of Korea research develops a model to estimate the probability of default using new indicators such as debt-to-equity ratios that better explain behaviour
Joint fiscal stimulus does everyone good
Bank of Canada looks at the potential effect of the joint fiscal policy initiatives of the G20 in 2009 and 2010
Labour shifts and productivity analysed
Bank of Canada paper finds that while overall labour reallocation has picked up, movement between jobs in the same industry, which causes increases in productivity, has declined
Obama’s proposals – the only game in town
President Obama’s radical proposals recognise that the financial lobby can no longer hold society to hostage. They should be welcomed as a result, Robert Pringle, the chairman of Central Banking Publications, writes.
Big fiscal spending hurts post-crisis recovery: IMF
International Monetary Fund looks at whether there is a trade-off between committing large fiscal resources and a quick recovery