Global imbalances
Liberalising services trade could tackle imbalances – BoE paper
Finding ways of reducing barriers to services trade could substantially cut imbalances
IMF chief economist warns against ‘complacency’
Recent economic upturn should not be viewed as “new normal”, Obstfeld says, arguing policymakers should be looking to shore up defences
‘Fault lines’ may be re-emerging, warns Bini Smaghi
Societe Generale chairman says supervisors should not rest easy until they have a better understanding of the “fundamental causes” of financial crises
Global liquidity matters for pass-through – CBRT research
Access to external sources of liquidity affects pass-through of monetary policy, researchers find
The changing composition of central bank balance sheets
Quantitative easing may have been necessary, but it has created worrying distortions and has probably discouraged structural change, while deflecting attention away from ever-greater levels of debt leverage
IMF designs new instrument amid rise of regional financing
The “policy co-ordination instrument” is designed to allow the fund to offer technical support to countries looking to unlock funding from regional arrangements
BIS comes to the defence of globalisation
Increasing trade and financial integration have had a “profoundly positive” impact on people’s lives, but do bring drawbacks too; the correct response is not a wholesale rollback, says Jaime Caruana
Mexican deputy: EMs should broaden trade strategy in wake of uncertainty
He takes note of uncertain political environment and what impact it could have on trade for emerging markets; exploring trade of services could be one option
Senior central bank officials defend globalisation
Dombret and Mminele argue against the idea that globalisation is causing high unemployment and low growth, while stressing the negative impacts of protectionist trade policies
Third of businesses think investment has been ‘too low’ – BoE survey
Bank of England publishes results of survey of UK firms in latest quarterly bulletin; businesses experienced both real economy and financial “obstacles” to investment
Current account imbalances need to be addressed, Furusawa says
IMF deputy says imbalances in current accounts could increase volatility in the global economy; development of a safety net could reduce the need to accumulate reserves
BoE paper calls for international standards on 'broader co-ordination'
Credit growth in the rest of the world has a large positive effect on the probability of domestic banking crises
IMF to tackle effects of globalisation in 2017
Fund says it will focus on bringing the benefits of globalisation and technology to a wider section of society, amid a populist backlash against openness
Inflation expectations more sensitive near the zero lower bound – IMF study
IMF study examines whether monetary policy can boost inflation in constrained environment; countries near zero lower bound could see inflation respond more to shocks
Mervyn King on Brexit, crisis supervision, economic rebalancing and reforming the IMF
The former Bank of England governor discusses Brexit, radical regulatory reform, the difficulties rebalancing the European and global economies and an overhaul of the International Monetary Fund
The growing role of China in an interconnected world
With global economic health ever more reliant on Chinese growth, Wang Yan, deputy director of the IFF Institute, looks at how structural reforms can help China take a leading role in the future
BoE economists map current account dangers across OECD
Treating the current account as equivalent to the balance of trade could blind economists to the risks posed by large deficits, say Kristin Forbes, Ida Hjortsoe and Tsvetelina Nenova
Book notes: Bretton Woods: the next 70 years
The Bretton Woods Committee has assembled a large number of distinguished authors for this volume, but ultimately the book ends up long on problems and short on solutions
Rajan and Mishra lay down rules of the monetary game
Authors warn current models may display the policy biases of those who built them, calling for better dialogue and analysis of monetary policy spillovers
US monetary policy contraction means drop in global output – paper
Raising interest rates in the US leads to lower global output and inflation in the short term; most 'pronounced' responses evident in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s
BIS’s Borio says current account obsession obscures important results
Focus on current account imbalances obscures many important – and often counterintuitive – results about global financial flows
Carney says BoE can stay independent in face of globalisation
BoE governor says global factors ‘influence but do not dictate’ policy in speech at Jackson Hole; other economists argue central banks should do more to set policy with global dynamics in mind
Global imbalances still on the rise, IMF paper shows
Though efforts have been made to cut current account imbalances since the financial crisis, ‘stock imbalances' continue to grow, find Milesi-Ferretti and Lane
IMF warns monetary tightening could hit EM growth
Advanced economies should collaborate with emerging markets, Fund says, to mitigate spillover effects of monetary tightening; says global imbalances remain too high