Central Banks
Riksbank study tackles capital buffer challenges
Research by members of the Sveriges Riksbank’s financial department analyses the problems posed by Basel III’s counter-cyclical capital buffer
Central banks extend swap arrangements
Bank of Canada, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank and US Federal Reserve extend temporary US dollar and bilateral swap agreements
Liikanen urges government to strengthen public finances
Bank of Finland governor says public debt reduction is threatened by lower-than-expected economic growth
Philippines’ inflation target will drop in 2015
Goal will decrease from 4% to 3% in line with the government’s desire for ‘disinflation’ and higher economic growth
French research says monetary policy can offset herding
Banque de France working paper says interest rate hikes can be used to eliminate asset price bubbles caused by investor herding behaviour
National Bank of Denmark chief says country should sign up to ‘more Europe’
Nils Bernstein warns that Denmark needs to maintain close integration with Europe or the country may find itself in a weaker position
Governing the central bank governors
Central banks face multiple challenges in the current market environment. But they still need to press towards better governance to build institutions that are fit for purpose
The ghost at the IMF’s Tokyo feast
Robert Pringle looks back at the main themes of the IMF’s annual meeting, which was held in October in Tokyo, and forward to prospects for 2013
The Bretton Woods transcripts
Bretton Woods was one of the world’s most important financial conferences, but one that was little known about until now
Striving for a strategic role for risk management
Risk management needs to be split from control functions to provide boards with a holistic view of qualitative and quantitative risks
Book notes: The Great Recession: Market Failure or Policy Failure?
This is a hugely important book that should be read by all central bankers, bank supervisors, politicians and newspaper editors
Book notes: Guardians of Finance
This is a book offering a useful contribution to the debate over the future of regulation. By James R Barth, Gerard Caprio Jr and Ross Levine
Book notes: Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics
At first glance the cover of this book implies that the overweening attachment of Thatcher and Reagan to free market economics lay at the root of the 2007–08 crisis. But it is not as simple as that
Book notes: First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity
The author's premise is that the best way to understand the problems confronting the American economy is to go back to the first principles of economic freedom upon which the country was founded
Sri Lankan governor issues 21-point plan for bankers
Ajith Nivard Cabraal gives guidance on how banking operations should be monitored and upgraded throughout 2013
Racial equality boosted by deregulation in US, paper says
Banking sector policies that facilitated competition helped increase the black population’s relative wages in the US, but only in racially biased states
Riksbank reinforces foreign currency reserves
Sveriges Riksbank will borrow $15 billion of foreign currency from Swedish National Debt Office to compensate in part for increasing IMF commitments
Fiji governor unveils first polymer banknote
New five Fijian dollar note to incorporate polymer substrate for the first time; $2 note replaced with coin
Experts advocate replacing OMTs with gold-backed bonds
Using gold as collateral for sovereign debt could circumvent concerns about fiscal transfers associated with ECB’s OMT programme, panellists say at World Gold Council briefing
EU leaders thrash out ECB bank supervision deal
European finance ministers reach agreement that gives the ECB supervisory powers over the largest banks; EBA rules adjusted to balance voting powers of states outside supervisory mechanism
Donald Kohn on the Fed and fixing the global financial system
Donald Kohn talks to Christopher Jeffery about the Fed’s role in the crisis, changes in central bank mandates and exit strategies, and regulatory efforts to clean up the financial system
Paper finds flimsy productivity base for banks in Spain
A Bank of Spain working paper says two-thirds of pre-crisis banking productivity growth was attributable to the expansion of mortgage lending, a reliance on short-term finance and leverage
SNB will not abandon minimum exchange rate, Jordan says
Thomas Jordan reaffirms the Swiss National Bank’s commitment to a minimum of 1.2 Swiss francs to the euro; inflation expected to remain negative next year