Opinion
Banks' attitude 'key to gold's fortunes'
According to this article published on Friday 25 November, fresh impetus in the gold price and continued uncertainty about the outlook for the dollar could change central banks' attitude towards the gold reserves they have been inclined to sell off over…
Change in Fed statement is coming (either way)
According to this article published on Monday 28 November, the part of the Fed's statement on the balance of risks to the Committee's objectives has degenerated, as have all the Fed's formulaic means of conveying an inter-meeting bias or long-term…
Comment: Euro adoption order changes
Slovakia's decision on Friday 25 November to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) with immediate effect took markets by surprise. Policymakers had been saying they were aiming at mid-2006 for joining the ERM II, which serves as a crucial…
Brown's gold sale losses pile up as price surges
According to this article published on Monday 28 November, the recent increase in the price of gold should be something of an embarrassment for UK Chancellor Gordon Brown with the Bank of England offloading 300 tonnes of gold at close to a 20-year low…
Comment: Fierce criticism of the ECB
The European Central Bank's recent indication of its intent to raise interest rates has prompted a wave of fierce press criticism, and not only from within the eurozone.
Bernanke for Asia? Mundell seems to think so
According to this article published on Thursday 24 Novemver, even before Ben Bernanke is confirmed as the next chairman of the Fed, a Nobel-winning economist has come up with a plan that seeks to make Alan Greenspan's successor the monetary boss of Asia…
Comment: Central banks "shouldn't supervise"
In a speech on Thursday, Howard Davies, who served for two years as deputy governor of the Bank of England and as special adviser to the chancellor of the exchequer, and who is currently director of the London School of Economics, argued that a…
Comment: Bank Indonesia wins praise
The oil price increase has caused headaches for monetary policy-makers around the world but has posed particular challenges for developing economies such as Indonesia, which operates an extensive system of oil subsidies.
Comment: ECB's strategy risks confusion
Jean-Claude Trichet's recent comments have effectively shifted the debate from whether or not the ECB will raise interest rates, to how aggressive and how persistent future rate hikes will be. The ECB's strategy raises a number of questions.
Bank of Japan
According to this recent article, the government and Liberal Democratic Party officials should not be blatantly meddling in the Bank of Japan's policy. Although the BOJ needs to stay in closer connection with the fiscal authorities, it says.
Comment: Russia's reserve management
At a time when Russia's official foreign reserves have risen sharply due largely to increased revenues from oil exports, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has been remarkably transparent how it manages these reserves.
Comment: ECB signals its move
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet on Friday 18 November dropped his strongest hint yet that interest rates will be increased at the governing council meeting on December 1.
Comment: Banking in the Caspian and Central Asia
The former USSR countries in the Caspian and Central Asia have been independent for nearly 15 years, but economic setbacks in the 1990s have meant that significant growth and development are fairly recent phenomena. We take a look at central banking and…
Comment: Monetary system 'fundamentally stable'
A clear division of opinion and sentiment about the prospects for the world economy came to the surface at a conference on Global Government Bonds that took place this week in Hong Kong.
Koizumi vs Fukui trumps Bush vs Greenspan
This article published on Wednesday 16 November says that with each passing day, disagreements with the government over when the Bank of Japan should stop flooding the economy with cash seem to intensify.
Is cb independence all it's cracked up to be?
The article "Is central bank independence all it's cracked up to be?" written by Joseph Stiglitz and published on Tuesday 15 November says as Alan Greenspan departs, he leaves behind a heavily burdened US economy that is already contributing to global…
Comment: Bold plan for FX reserves
Sometimes unique policy dilemmas require unorthodox policy responses. A recent IMF discussion paper offers a bold suggestion for central banks facing increasingly sharp trade-offs related to the management of their foreign exchange reserves.
Comment: Bernanke hits the ground running
While arguing that he will take his time in building the case for an inflation-targetting Fed, Ben Bernanke's remarks during his confirmation hearing yesterday before the US Senate Banking Committee made clear that he remains a proponent of the framework.
Comment: Japanese spat threatens recovery
Japanese policymakers face enormous challenges over the coming months as the country's economy edges towards normality. One of the key issues is how to coordinate the need for both fiscal and monetary tightening. Judging by recent developments, the…
Modernising central banks
Many central banks around the world are in the process of reviewing their roles and functions. However most of these modernisation programmes are undertaken discreetly. Not all though. CentralBankNet lists some key resources for central bank modernisers.
Why statistics matter
More care should be taken in presenting important statistics, says Steve Hanke, editorial adviser to Central Banking.
Comment: Activism the ECB way
Yesterday, 9 November, Jean-Claude Trichet explained how the ECB's decision to leave interest rates unchanged for more than two years should not be equated to non-activist monetary policy.
Bank of Japan's course might renew deflation
This article published on Friday 4 November says that while caution may be a good trait for central bankers when it comes to inflation, in the case of Japan, it's totally misplaced.