United States
Tighter US capital ratios eased inequality – Bundesbank paper
Richer households’ incomes fell while Fed’s easing cushioned effects on middle and low earners
Paper proposes ‘re-engineering’ US statistics
System for compiling statistics is dated and overly complex, authors say
Fed launches banknote app for children
App provides details of security features, mimicking raised intaglio print through vibrations
Establishing the Fed worsened the Great Depression – St Louis Fed paper
Setting up lender of last resort reduced banks’ incentive to manage risk, paper argues
Asset manager of the year: State Street Global Advisors
The US financial group used its global presence, and equity and fixed income expertise, to expand its central bank client base and assets under management in 2018
BoE’s leveraged loan research draws interest from overseas
UK exposures are modest but firms in US and Japan have bigger holdings of CLOs, which carry echoes of the subprime mortgage crisis
Low US unemployment unlikely to foster sudden wage growth – research
Fed projections see unemployment rate falling to 3.5% by the end of 2019
Fed diversity is focus of new legislation
New bill would ensure at least one gender- and one ethnically-diverse candidate are interviewed for vacant president roles
Powell urged fast end to QE despite signs of taper tantrum
Jerome Powell sensed taper tantrum was a risk, but urged then-chair Ben Bernanke to act anyway, transcripts show
People: RBNZ completes senior team shake-up
Chief information officer and two new assistant governors round out RBNZ reshuffle; Bolivian central bank hires vice-president; regional Fed boards for 2019 unveiled
Federal Reserve profits fall as normalisation takes hold
The Fed remittances to US Treasury fell by 18.5% from last year
Fed can afford to be patient as global growth forecasts decline, says Clarida
Fed vice-chair says labour market is at full employment and inflation remains on target
US equity prices affect consumer and business confidence, researcher finds
Results highlight risks to macroeconomy of recent equity slump
Fed’s Quarles outlines ‘building block approach’ to insurance regulation
Regulator chose not to copy and paste banking sector regulations onto insurers, says vice-chair
Fed taking cautious stance on rate path
Incoming Fed officials signal there may be a rate-hike pause
Yellen ‘greatly concerned’ over regulation reversals
Fed unveils proposal for relaxing stress test requirements
Employers alter skill demands in line with unemployment, researchers find
Requirements for a bachelor’s degree increased during higher unemployment, authors find
People: Nellie Liang withdraws from Fed nomination; World Bank chief resigns
Trump nominee had played a key role in setting up the Fed’s stress tests; Kim was due to leave World Bank presidency in July 2022; further appointments in UK, Vietnam and Ghana
NY Fed’s Williams advocates change to inflation-targeting framework
But Don Kohn prefers to keep status quo with some supplementary policies
Spending behaviour in unemployment does not fit with rational models – paper
Behavioural models of “present-biased or myopic” choices fit better with the data, authors say
Blanchard calls for rethink on costs of debt
Fiscal cost of public debt may be zero, macroeconomist argues, but that does not make debt costless
Powell sends cautious message to markets
Bernanke says he and Yellen “very lucky” to have served under presidents who respected Fed independence; Powell pledges not to step down
US interbank market may not recover from QE – Fed paper
Authors warn shrinking the Fed balance sheet might not be enough to revive the market
US payrolls data proves strong
Non-farm payrolls beat expectations and wage growth rises, despite fears of a global slowdown