Opinion
Resistance waning to BOJ ending hyper-easy policy
According to this article published Tuesday 21 February, resistance by the government and senior members of the ruling party towards the Bank of Japan ending its five-year-old hyper-loose monetary policy seems to be waning.
Bending the yield curve to fit current fashion
This article published on Tuesday 21 February looks at the refusal of long- term interest rates to follow short-term rates higher when the Fed began raising rates in June 2004.
Comment: Ferguson bids Fed farewell
The vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Roger Ferguson, will retire in two months time and he will not attend the Fed's next rate-setting meeting on March 27-28. Ferguson's departure underscores the idea of a Fed in flux.
Reservations about reserves
According to this article published on Sunday19 February, a race is unfolding in Asia involving currency reserves. The favourite in this game of monetary one-upmanship is China, it says.
Comment: Transparency and institutions
One of the most striking transformations in central banking over the last twenty years has been the idea that central banks should be transparent in their conduct of policy. While it is fair to say that the benefits of transparency have become …
Comment: Sepa progress report
In its fourth progress report on the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) the ECB says it "expects the European Payments Council (EPC) to take overall responsibility for defining and implementing a monitoring framework for each phase of the migration process…
Comment: Bundesbank stands firm
Leading members of the German parliament are very upset about the refusal of the Bundesbank even to talk about the sale of its gold reserves. In what is turning into a litmus test of its independence, the German central bank has, thus far, stood firm.
Next Bank of Spain chief will face higher rates
According to this article published on Thursday 16 February, when a new governor replaces Jaime Caruana as head of the Bank of Spain later this year, their biggest challenge will be to manage the change of the economic cycle.
Comment: Payment system risks
While few would regard Britain's large-value payment system as risky - over its ten-year life, the system has suffered no major scares - how the system will bear up in a crisis or time of market stress is a cause for concern.
New Fed chief meets same old Congress
In terms of the testimony itself, the transition from Greenspan to Bernanke was seamless, according to this article published on Thursday 17 February. But he did it in language that Congress and the larger audience - financial markets - could understand,…
Comment: Inflation targetting
A number of emerging market economies have encountered problems in the early stages of inflation targetting. The latest to hit some bumps in the road in is the National Bank of Romania.
ECB is wrong to stamp on Europe's property boom
The ECB is wrong to be complaining about house prices, according to this article published Wednesday 15 February. You can't target anything unless you know what you are aiming at, it says.
Comment: Bernanke's debut
New Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, provided little further insight into the likely further path of interest rates in the US on Wednesday. On the whole he painted a fairly rosy picture of the economy's health - both in a cyclical and structural sense. His…
Greenspan remains relevant in gold debate
This article published on Friday 10 February looks at recent comments by Alan Greenspan that the recent strength of the gold price is all down to the uncertain international political situation. Overnight developments in the US support Greenspan's thesis…
Let's cut the bullion about holding gold
This article published on Saturday 11 February asks whether the Reserve Bank of Australia has made a costly blunder in its management of Australia's international reserves. This task is surely a litmus test of a central bank's financial acumen, it says.
Comment: Indonesia and the IMF
The Indonesian finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, has indicated that the country is considering the early repayment of its outstanding debt to the IMF. The prospect of early repayment raises some interesting questions and policymakers are likely to…
The role of central banks in banking crises
According to this article published on 2 February, central banks should not supervise the banking system. When asked to do so, central banks are really asked to draw criticism on their past performance, their policies and their vigilance in the past, it…
Why the Bank of Japan should just shut up
According to this article published on Monday 13 February, until the consumer price index and other inflation measures turn positive and stay there for six months or even longer, Bank of Japan officials should keep their heads down and their mouths…
Comment: BIS looks east
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Monday announced its intention to "deepen its relationship" with Asian central banks. The most interesting and challenging aspect of the initiative is the proposed "extension of banking services in the…
'Greatest central banker ever' comes down a peg
This article published on Thursday 9 February looks at recent comments by ex Fed chief Alan Greenspan. It was his comments on the likely future course of interest rates that will tarnish his legacy as ``the greatest central banker who ever lived,'' it…
Warsh's Fed nomination draws criticism, confusion
President Bush's nomination of the 35-year-old White House aide Kevin Warsh for a seat on the Federal Reserve's board has been greeted with criticism and bewilderment by some former Fed officials and economists, according to this article published on…
Comment: The IMF and exchange rate surveillance
The IMF's managing director, Rodrigo de Rato, on Thursday 9 February shed some light on the Fund's thinking over its medium-term strategy in a speech in Rome.
IMF letter to the FT
In this letter to the Financial Times on 8 February, 2006, the IMF's assistant director Ashoka Mody, and the Fund's senior resident representative for central Europe and the Baltics, Christoph Rosenberg, question FT columnist Wolfgang Munchau assertion…
Comment: BoJ and inflation targeting
As the Bank of Japan's "quantitative easing" policy nears its end, the question of whether the central bank may soon set an explicit inflation target is being hotly debated. Although the BoJ is still resisting the adopting the framework, the tide may…