International
People: Trump nominates Shelton and Waller to Fed posts
Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller nominated as Fed governors; Kingsley Obiora in line to be Central Bank of Nigeria deputy; Jill Forde named BIS head of communications
Central banks must learn lessons of BoJ’s inflation target rise – Fed paper
Failure to hit old targets and disagreement among policy-makers will harm credibility, paper argues
Cyber security suffers from inconsistent approaches, says IMF’s Lipton
Emerging markets struggle to implement international recommendations, expert adds
BIS statistics committee to focus on fintech and big data in 2020
Irving Fisher Committee plans to complete its fintech work and update a 2015 survey
People: Modi’s government appoints new RBI deputy governor
Michael Patra takes position left by Viral Acharya in June 2019; EBA names new executive director; UK Payment Systems Regulator appoints a new head of policy
BIS adds members and boosts EME voices on committees
Emerging markets now better represented on key governance bodies
Demographic change could mark end of economic growth – NBER paper
Shrinking populations could cause knowledge and living standards to stagnate, author says
People: Israeli governor nominates Andrew Abir as deputy governor
Former Sarb deputy governor appointed chief executive of Absa financial group; Colombian president picks new board member; Riksbank names new general counsel
Economists call for action on risk of dollar liquidity crunch
Credit to non-banks and currency mismatches have grown, while oversight is “fragmented”, report warns
Machine learning model flags importance of yield curve for crisis prediction
Model has potential to allow policy action before crisis hits, BoE paper says
RBA: stablecoins must wait until framework in place
Australian central bank says it may step up CBDC research efforts this year
Proportion of women working in central banks dips
On average, women make up 45% of central bank workforce, but improvements have been made to senior management make-up
Higher oil prices dampened impact of Fed spillovers in Gulf – IMF paper
Changes in Fed rates likely to have minimal impact on GCC growth with current oil prices, researchers say
Crises are non-linear, beware high debt levels – research
IMF paper warns against complacency on high debt levels
Rates have been falling for eight centuries – BoE research
Study casts doubt on major theories, including secular stagnation; author warns rates could “soon enter permanently negative territory”
Central bank research may be too focused on narrow topics – paper
Network analysis finds many central banks are limited in the scope of their research
ECB paper offers tiering solution to CBDC structural concerns
Separating CBDC functions between tiers could disincentivise use during crisis periods, but disintermediation of the banking sector still a risk, author warns
2020: fintech and beyond
At the turn of the decade, central bankers share their thoughts on financial technology – past, present and future
Macroeconomics is not broken
The discipline has moved beyond the neoclassical synthesis. Critics should too
Are we sleepwalking into a cashless society?
Cash could be crowded out of the payment landscape if current trends continue, but should central banks be responsible for ensuring its survival?
Yngve Slyngstad: contrarian person, brilliant investor
Knut Kjær reflects on the character of the man that has led Norway’s $1.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund and contemplates the complex governance challenges ahead
2019: The year in review
The past year was marked by a persistent weakening of the global economy, and some radical financial innovations
Negative rates demonstrate shortcomings of currency
Many central banks have rates in negative territory. The distortionary effects of these policies raise broader questions on the design of money itself, writes Barry Topf
Tighter regulation may be working – MIT economist
Kristin Forbes says banks may be more resilient but warns risk could be shifting to shadow sector