Fiscal policy
Rich countries must aid poor over Covid-19: Georgieva
IMF chief warns of future financial instability and calls for major aid flows to developing world
Book notes: Capital and ideology, by Thomas Piketty
A political pamphlet like Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’, but longer
Norges Bank’s policy space ‘almost exhausted’ – governor
Norwegian governor warns public spending is increasingly dependent on sovereign wealth fund
Kenya’s central bank transfers $45.6m to government
IMF approves pause in fiscal tightening as Kenyan authorities deal with impact of pandemic
Book notes: Asset management at central banks and monetary authorities, edited by Jacob Bjorheim
This excellent book fills a critical gap existing since IMF guidelines on asset management were revised
Bank of Zambia caught between surging inflation and debt crisis
Central bank hikes policy rate as kwacha falls and fiscal spending overshoots targets
ECCB persuades states to relax fiscal stance
IMF supports move to deal with pandemic’s effects, warning against “drastic fiscal consolidation”
Mexican central bank board cuts policy rate
Rate-setting board unanimously votes for looser policies despite above-target inflation
Riksbank revises up growth and inflation forecasts for 2021
Swedish central bank maintains stimulus; inflation not expected to approach target until 2023
Latin American economies threatened by pandemic resurgence – IMF
Western hemisphere chief warns recovery is uneven and under threat
European central bankers see room for fiscal-monetary co-operation
Pandemic showed it was “critical” for both policies to work together, say central bank governors
Reserve Bank of Australia launches A$100bn in new QE
Australian central bank surprises analysts with easing measure, despite more hopeful macroeconomic forecast
IMF staff lay ground for $1.8 billion loan to Costa Rica
Staff set terms for three-year loan as high debt and Covid-19 take toll; earlier agreement foundered amid public protests
New IMFC chair warns against premature stimulus withdrawal
Magadalena Andersson lays out priorities for the IMF over the coming years
Design flaws in Covid relief package cost millions of jobs – Fed paper
Delay to paycheck protection programme had “very substantial” impact, economists argue
BdF paper looks at fiscal responses to liquidity traps
Infrastructure spending is more robust to model specification changes than sales tax- paper
Rwanda’s central bank may need to bolster support – IMF
Lack of fiscal space means central bank may be last resort, says fund report
Hernández de Cos on ECB policy, crises responses and Basel reform
Spanish governor and Basel Committee chair Pablo Hernández de Cos favours a form of average inflation targeting, says ECB is willing to boost stimulus and Basel reforms not diminished by Covid-19 exceptions; stresses the need for structural reform and…
BoE’s MPC says UK outlook is ‘unusually uncertain’
Outcome of Brexit talks and evolution of pandemic leave future cloudy, BoE says
Climate change on the agenda for most economics departments
Central banks explore a wide range of topics, with some differences between advanced economies and EMEs
Otmar Issing on the art of central bank communications
EMU architect speaks about Draghi’s “whatever it takes” intervention, forward guidance failures, the Fed’s average inflation target ‘miscommunication’, and why the ECB may be overreaching in its strategy review
Monetary-fiscal policy co-operation and the ‘slippery slope’
Barry Eichengreen assesses the risks central banks face from their closer links to fiscal policy
Olli Rehn on AIT, market neutrality and EU fiscal policies
The Bank of Finland governor talks about the ECB’s strategy review, market failure on climate change, lessons from the sovereign debt crisis, and the Draghi legacy effect on Covid-19 responses
Biden to nominate Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary
Former Fed chair would become first person to have led central bank, Treasury, and Council of Economic Advisers