Opinion/Central Banks

House prices force velvet revolution at Bank

Revolutions can be noisy affairs but central bankers are known for their inherent conservatism. So if there is a revolution taking place in the corridors of the world's major monetary institutions, we are not likely to hear a great deal about it, this…

Lessons from the past productivity booms

Distinguished lecture on economics in government: Lessons from past productivity booms by Roger Ferguson and William Wascher. The experience in the US suggests that extended periods of strong productivity growth are characterized by innovations in…

Inside the Bank of England

This article asks whether the Bank of England will succeed in trying to contain a housing bubble. An "admirable steadiness" has won Mervyn King a top reputation in the rarefied world of central banking with the BOE being considered by many a model of…

Will ECB independence threaten ECB independence?

The Federal Reserve is about to join the club of central banks that has embarked on a course of normalizing short-term interest rates, this article says ahead of the Fed's much awaited FOMC decision. And with the ECB meeting on Thursday it describes the…

All eyes on Ireland

Ireland's single financial services regulator was a year old last month. Unusually for a single regulatory authority, it has been established as a wing of the central bank. Chief executive Liam O'Reilly spoke to Michael Imeson about its achievements so…

Interview with Mervyn King

In an interview with Scotland's The Herald newspaper published 15 June, Mervyn King said that the Monetary Policy Committee was not in the business of trying to shock consumers or the market and would only do so when the situation had materially changed…

Independence law for Central Bank of Taiwan

When passed into law, the amended Central Bank Act in Taiwan will define the central bank as "the national bank which exercises its duties independently as prescribed by the law," this article says. Important amendments to the Act include requiring the…

Interview with Professor Rifaat of the IFSB

Increasingly, central banks are working together to ensure consistent regulation of Islamic banks. The latest issues of The Financial Regulator journal includes an interview with Professor Rifaat, Secretary-General of the Islamic Financial Services Board…

Greenspan, his limo rides, and interest rates

The Republican central banker's visits to the White House have nearly quadrupled since Bush replaced President Clinton, according to this article. His visits lead to two intriguing questions, the article says. How involved is the Fed chairman in setting…

The extraordinary Greenspan

This editorial from The Washington Times says it is quite unlikely that the American and world economies would have experienced such good fortunes as they have over the past 20 years were Mr. Greenspan not leading the world's most powerful central bank…

Is inflation Japan's next battle?

This article on the IHT's site asks when the Bank of Japan will shift from a quantity theory approach to monetary policy and revert to using interest rate policy. That a change is being considered was hinted at last week by the bank's governor, Toshihiko…

CentralBankNet's central bank governance guide

Following the Bundesbank's decision to appoint an ethics advisor for its board, central banks around the world are reviewing their ethics policies for staff. As an aide to this effort, CentralBankNet's governance guide here includes some links to…

Iraq's central bank plan goes beyond basics

This article says that what's remarkable about the financial architecture for Iraq is the scope and detail the coalition brought to the task of establishing an independent central bank. In March, the CPA published the Central Bank of Iraq Law, which, it…

Interview with Leszek Balcerowicz

In extracts from an interview published in the latest edition of Central Banking journal the president of the National Bank of Poland, Leszek Balcerowicz, explains why he believes in taking the shortest route possible to the euro.

A new face in European monetary policy

This article published on Friday 14 May in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says Axel Weber may instill fresh ideas and a new impulse into the weakened German central bank. As a renowned expert in monetary and financial market issues, Weber looks like…

Europe's beleaguered central bankers

This article from BusinessWeek says what unsettles investors isn't so much that the ECB held rates steady at its last meeting but that Trichet hinted the ECB was going to do one thing and then it did something else. It also looks at the scandals…

Fund focus on regulatory governance

After five years investigating national financial systems under its FSAP programme, the International Monetary Fund has decided that poor regulatory governance - how regulatory authorities themselves are governed - is undermining financial stability.

Interview - Sir Andrew Large

CentralBankNet presents the highlights of Sir Andrew Large's recent interview with The Financial Regulator journal, in which he describes how the Bank of England works to maintain financial stability in the United Kingdom, and comments on the new Basel…

Interview with ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet

In an interview with a German newspaper, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, signalled his concern for the eurozone economy. He also said that consumer confidence in the euro zone was weaker than it should be at this stage of an…

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