Labour
Book notes: How boards work, by Dambisa Moyo
Moyo offers insights into the skills required to be a valued board director, as well as a thought-provoking list of issues that may appear with greater frequency on future board agendas
Link between US labour costs and inflation has weakened – ECB paper
US can sustain robust labour markets without risking inflation outbreak, researchers say
Central banks’ payments operations staffed more than oversight function
Advanced economies tend to have higher staff numbers in both functions
Fed launches standing repo facilities
Facilities to be open to foreign central banks and domestic primary dealers; FOMC keeps policy on hold
The ‘golden age’ of central banking has passed
Central banks face multi-faceted challenges and weakened autonomy amid highly polarised inflation expectations
Charles Goodhart on inflation targets, financial stability and the role of money
The LSE professor says inflation targets should have been 0%, the Fed’s move to AIT is a mistake, independence is under threat from inflation, big balance sheets support liquidity, AI can help supervisors and climate stress tests are unconvincing
A return of the inflation monster?
There are fears that a shift in intellectual approach towards running economies ‘hot’ could herald a return of the money-eating inflation era
Lifetime achievement: Charles Goodhart
The LSE and BoE veteran economist has his own ‘law’, and played a key role in the establishment of monetary policy in the UK, Hong Kong’s peg and the ‘New Zealand model’, which influenced a generation of central bankers
The Covid crisis, central banks and the future
Crisis responses have had positive initial outcomes, but also exacerbated significant underlying challenges that raise concerns related to exit strategies and the future for central banks
National statistical agencies must measure informal economy – IMF
Fund outlines new framework for informal economy consistent with GDP methodology
Early non-employment ‘scars’ workers – Bank of Italy paper
Effect is particularly severe for non-graduates and when conditions are good, research finds
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…
Whither the age of ‘magic money’?
EME central banks are more exposed to changes in geopolitics, climate, demography, technology and inflation at a time when monetary theory is running well behind central bank practice
Monetary unions in the making in Africa
EAC, Ecowas and SADC can adopt practical steps learned from EMU to prepare for their own currency unions
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
All that glitters – Surveying central banks on gold reserves
Key survey data and comments reinforce the main findings in Invesco’s central bank reserve management white paper on the revival of gold as a reserve asset.
Haldane explores long-term consequences of home working
Welfare impact seems broadly positive, but it is uneven and may not last, says BoE chief economist
One third of reserves staff work in front-office roles
Average reserve management team size is less than 30 employees
Fed feeling its way with new inflation framework
Average inflation targeting is broadly dovish, and could see rates stay lower for even longer
Colombia cuts rates to record-low 2%
Below-target inflation allows new central bank action to boost growth
ECB ready to adjust its policy instruments – Philip Lane
MAS chairman warns that post-pandemic labour markets will need new public policies
James Bullard on the Fed’s policy review, FSOC and forecasting jobs data
St Louis Fed president discusses his support for average inflation targeting, his concerns about US Treasuries market function, non-bank regulatory weakness and negative rates, as well as the unexpected success in using Homebase data to predict highly…
Covid-19 policy-making and the need for high-speed data
High-frequency data holds the promise of speed and adaptability, but the rush to find alternative economic indicators has the potential to create problems
How vulnerable are EMEs to renewed Covid-19 turbulence?
Emerging markets face twin pressures from the health crisis and global financial forces, says Steve Kamin