Opinion/Monetary Policy
Risks await in raising interest rates
FEATURE - If central bankers are 100 per cent sure that interest rates need to start rising, it is probably too late reports Tuesday's Financial Times.
Posh jobs
FEATURE - Former directors of Equitable Life who are being sued for more than £3bn will turn green with envy if they cast an eye over the Bank of England's annual report. In a section on governance and accountability, it makes clear that the Bank's Court…
Two new faces on the Bank of England's MPC
FEATURE - In the auspicious oak panelled surroundings of Committee Room 16 at the Houses of Parliament the newest recruits to the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee were put through their paces by the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday…
Stern sees signs business spending picking up
FEATURE - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Gary Stern said on Thursday that business spending was starting to pick up and the U.S. economy is on track for moderate growth this year.
Britons hoard £1bn cash
FEATURE - British households are sitting on an estimated £945m cash pile, according to a new survey - and much of it can be found under sofa cushions.
Facing up to a post-Greenspan future
FEATURE - With every change of personnel at the Federal Reserve comes renewed speculation about what the institution will look like once Alan Greenspan, its revered chairman, finally departs.
Central bank they deserve
LETTER - Letter to the Financial Times published in the US edition 18 May. From Anthony Gould, New Jersey.
Dissenters are becoming dying breed at the Fed
FEATURE - It appears the imposing figure of Alan Greenspan at meetings of the US Federal Reserve is more than enough to persuade other members to keep their mouths shut. Report from Bloomberg news agency, New York.
Policy flaw at heart of the ECB
FEATURE - Keynes eroded the firmly-held idea that there were mysteries about central banking which justified secrecy about how it was meant to work. The process of erosion has taken a long time. This article was written by Professor Sir Alan Peacock in…
Brash makes his first political speech
FEATURE - Prospective National MP Don Brash has made his first political speech since standing down as Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor.
Strong appeal
FEATURE - An emotional day yesterday for Ian Plenderleith - by Bank of England standards at least. The outgoing head of financial market operations has always been taciturn when helping to unveil the inflation report, reports Thursday's Financial Times.
Interview with Robert Mundell
FEATURE - One hundred days after the introduction of the euro Robert Pringle spoke with its self-styled "godfather" and Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell in an exclusive interview for the latest edition of Central Banking journal.
Interview with Afghanistan's central bank governor
FEATURE - The recently appointed governor of Afghanistan's central bank, Anwar Ahady, has given an exclusive interview to Central Banking journal. In it he talks of his immediate priorities and hopes for the future of the central bank and Afghanistan's…
Five years of an independent Bank
FEATURE - It is, for the Bank of England, Independence Day. Just five years ago the Bank of England was given its freedom to set monetary policy.
None so deaf - A central banker hit below the belt
FEATURE - When the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, is stuck in an awkward political corner she has taken to using a cheap rhetorical trick. She has borrowed it from Rob Muldoon. Unable to find anything substantive to say, she resorts to…
Olson isn't saying what banks want to hear
FEATURE - Bankers' hopes were high in December when Mark W. Olson was sworn in as a member of the Federal Reserve Board but the American Banker reports, 1 May, that Mr Olson has provided the banking industry with nothing but tough love.
Interview with Russian central bank First Deputy
FEATURE - Interview with central bank first deputy chairman Oleg Vyugin with Vesti RTR News Program, 23 April.
ECB stands in contrast to Bank of England
FEATURE - Tuesday's London edition FT reports on the difficulties central banks can face in identifying and maintaining ideal inflation targets.
An overview of the Federal Reserve System
FEATURE - In an interesting article Hoover's Company Profiles look at the history of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Act followed the panic which ensued after the failure of New York's Knickerbocker Trust Company in 1907. J. P. Morgan strong…
More cogitating about world 'after Alan'
FEATURE - As various people remind us on an increasingly frequent basis, it's not too early to be speculating about the Greenspan succession question.
Central banks and asset inflation
FEATURE - A modern central bank needs to watch asset prices as well as traditional inflation.
Recent comments by Bank of England MPC members
Feature - Reflection on recent comment from the nine members of the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England, 19 April.
The Recession that Almost Was
FEATURE - A Commentary by Kenneth Rogoff, Economic Counsellor and Director, Research Department, International Monetary Fund, 5 April.
Japan lawmaker says BOJ chief not worth his salt
FEATURE - Is a central bank governor who has been unable to halt a three-year decline in prices or prevent the longest recession in decades worth his salt - particularly when his paycheck is 38.43 million yen ($293,000) a year?