Federal Reserve System
Fed's Rosengren warns against exceeding full employment
Boston Fed president says significantly overshooting full employment, which he estimates at 4.7%, could lead to an overheating economy and “rapid removal” of monetary policy accommodation
People: ECB names HR director-general; BoE gets new MPC member
ECB appoints new head of human resources; Citigroup economist joins Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee; New York Fed’s chief lawyer to step down after twenty-one years in the role
Fed’s Brainard highlights potential in distributed ledgers
Policy-makers cannot afford to ignore the possibilities new technology could offer clearing and settlement systems, Lael Brainard says
Fed should stay the course with gradual rate rises – Lacker
The Federal Open Market Committee should continue raising rates, suggests Richmond Fed president; oil price falls and financial markets volatility both stabilising, Lacker argues
Data dependence catching on, says San Fran Fed president
Market participants have become more responsive to economic news since 2015 in both the US and UK, research by Benjamin Pyle and John Williams finds
Summers: Fed is not ready for next crisis
Secular stagnation has left Federal Reserve short on firepower as the next recession looms, economist says; urges greater willingness to risk inflation overshoot and action by fiscal authorities
Some Fed officials concerned April hike would ‘signal a sense of urgency’
Minutes from March meeting reveal caution around prospect of a hike this month, given prevailing headwinds and risks; next meeting on April 26–27
Chicago and Cleveland Fed presidents back gradual path for rate increases
Charles Evans is “comfortable” with tightening implied by latest round of dot plots; he and Loretta Mester spell out outlooks for growth and inflation and risks surrounding them
Dudley hits back at plans to curb Fed discretion
New York Fed chief says plans to force Fed to follow a monetary policy rule would lead to “significant policy errors”; supports transparency, but within bounds
Policy-makers could use fraud patterns as economic indicator – paper
Positive relationship exists between bank fraud and the macroeconomy, Chicago Fed risk specialist finds, suggesting fraud could offer an early warning sign of crisis
Latin American countries may be especially exposed to US monetary policy, paper finds
These economies may be more vulnerable than most emerging markets to the normalisation of US monetary policy, claims a Bank of Spain paper
Fed picks McKinsey to scrutinise faster payment proposals
Consultancy firm will assess options for a real-time system across the US, as task force members are invited to submit proposals
Yellen: volatile global outlook calls for gradual hikes
Fed chair soothes market concerns over pace of rate rises, highlighting importance of low rates in offsetting troubles abroad and saying rates will rise more slowly than previously indicated
Philadelphia Fed president warns of ‘mismatch’ between education and business
Patrick Harker says there is a disparity between the education offered and practical skills needed by businesses in the US, which has likely contributed to slow recovery following crisis
Fed QE drives portfolio rebalancing towards foreign assets, Brazil paper finds
Research analyses ‘comprehensive’ dataset for Brazilian capital flows and a smaller one for other EM economies
Fed officials lower expectations of rate increases
Fed officials forecast rate increase of 50bp this year, compared with 100bp in December; Yellen “wary” of recent increase in headline inflation
Brainard warns of segmentation of liquidity
Recent changes in liquidity practices may heighten financial markets’ vulnerability in stressed conditions, Brainard says; downward pressures on inflation remain, she adds
Economists mull how to improve Fed communications
Paper presented at US Monetary Policy Forum encourages Fed to move away from ‘time-based’ forward guidance; considers what kind of new information would be useful to markets
Dudley flags inflation uncertainty and expectations concern
New York Fed president says uncertainties around his assessment of the inflation outlook have increased; warns of slide in household expectations and stresses need for ‘close scrutiny’
Money matters: need for a monetary aggregate revival?
Evidence from the years of the Great Recession justify renewed attention to a broadly defined concept of the quantity of money in central bank research
Sarb’s Lesetja Kganyago on divergent monetary policies and new supervision
The governor of the South African Reserve Bank talks to Christopher Jeffery about navigating divergent monetary policies, South Africa’s new supervisory regime and nurturing new talent
Bank of Canada picks ‘renowned and prolific’ new deputy
Sylvain Leduc chosen as new deputy governor, bringing a lengthy list of publications and a ‘deep understanding’ of the international monetary system; deputy duties also reshuffled
NY Fed’s Potter ‘extremely pleased’ with rate control
The Fed’s framework for controlling money market rates has proven ‘effective’ in the wake of December’s lift-off, according to executive vice-president Simon Potter
Senate committee chair urged to clear backlog of nominees
Nominees to Federal Reserve board of governors among those waiting to learn fate; delay reportedly stems from disagreement over another key Fed post