Research
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, May 2004
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index May 2004 moved sharply higher, to +0.91, from a downward revised +0.52 the previous month. As was the case in April, production- and employment-related data added the most to May's CFNAI, although each of the four…
St Louis Fed's Central Banker, Summer 2004
The Summer 2004 edition of the St. Louis Fed's Central Banker magazine has been published. The latest issue carries an article "The FACT Act Helps Bankers Mitigate Risks" which says approximately half of all identity-theft claims in the Eighth District…
Evolution and procedures in central banking
The papers in this volume "Evolution and Procedures in Central Banking" were presented at the Cleveland Fed Central Bank Institute's first conference. The articles and discussants' comments in this volume largely focus on two questions: the need for…
Bank of England Financial Stability Review, Jun 04
The Bank of England published its latest Financial Stability Review for June 2004 on Monday 28 June. It contains the Bank's regular half-yearly review of risks to financial stability and measures taken to strengthen the financial infrastructure, together…
Bank of England Inflation Attitudes Survey, May 04
The Bank of England's May 2004 quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey was published on 18 June. Asked about the future path of interest rates, 71% expected rates to rise in the next 12 months, up slightly from 69% in the February survey.
The Norwegian Banking Crisis
It has been ten years since the Norwegian banking crisis ended. This publication considers the crisis in retrospect and provides a comprehensive, but reasonably compact description in English of the Norwegian banking crisis. It contains six chapters and…
Financial stability and macroeconomic models
The pre-release article to the Bank of England's Financial Stability Review "Financial stability and macroeconomic models" says financial instability is commonly perceived to be costly. But how costly? And why?
NY Fed study sees no sign of US housing bubble
The New York Federal Reserve Bank said in a study published on Tuesday that there is no bubble in U.S. home prices despite the price surge in recent years and even if regional prices do fall, that will not pose a threat to the overall economy.
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Summer 2004
The Bank of England released its Quarterly Bulletin Summer 2004, on 18 June. The Bulletin includes articles titled "Assessing the stability of narrow money demand in the United Kingdom," "Deriving a market-based measure of interest rate expectations," …
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, June 2004
According to the Bank of Japan's June Monthly Report the Japanese economy is "gathering strong momentum" and continues to recover, increased production and corporate profits are having a positive effect on employment, it said.
Federal Reserve Board - Beige Book, June 2004
The Federal Reserve released its June 2004 Beige Book survey on 16 June. The report said that economy activity in April and May continued to expand across the United States.
Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, Jun 2004
According to the firms surveyed for the Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey, June 2004, expansion continued in the region's manufacturing sector with most indicators improved on their May readings.
BIS Quarterly Review June 2004
The BIS June 2004 quarterly review, released 14 June, is divided into two parts. The first analyses recent developments in financial markets, financing flows in banking and debt securities markets, and activity on derivatives markets. The second part…
Bank of Canada Financial System Review, June 2004
The Bank of Canada published its semi-annual Financial System Review on 10 June. Economic forecasts of global growth in 2004 have been revised upwards significantly. In addition, favourable financing conditions and the efforts of firms to restructure…
ECB Monthly Bulletin, June 2004
The European Central Bank published its June 2004 Monthly Bulletin on 10 June. The report said the recovery in euro area economic growth is expected to continue over the coming quarters, leading to a broader and stronger upswing in the course of next…
RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement, June 2004
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand increased the Official Cash Rate from 5.5 to 5.75 per cent on 10 June. Speaking at the release of the Reserve Bank's June 2004 Monetary Policy Statement, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said "The New Zealand economy has…
Federal Reserve Bulletin, Spring 2004
The Federal Reserve published its Bulletin for Spring 2004 on 9 June. The Bulletin includes a summary of papers presented at the second Conference of the International Research Forum on Monetary Policy. Among the topics examined were the Great Inflation…
Inflation convergence across countries
OECD countries with a history of high inflation before the 1990s were shown to have subsequently experienced a larger degree of disinflation than countries with a history of low inflation. This RBA discussion paper explores further this phenomenon of…
IMF paper on interest rates/ currency pegs
This IMF working paper studies a policy often used to defend a currency peg: raising short-term interest rates. A key implication of the model is that an interest rate defense can always be successful, but has great costs for domestic agents. Hence, it…
Fed Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, May/Jun 2004
In the latest edition of the St Louis Fed's Review for May-June 2004, Fed economists Kevin Kliesen and Frank Schmid examine how announced changes in monetary policy actions and macroeconomic data releases affect the average rate of inflation that…
Sveriges Riksbank, Financial Stability Report
Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, published its first Financial Stability Report for 2004 on 2 June. Although household debt is increasing at a rapid rate, it is not considered to entail any serious risks for Swedish banks, according to the…
Norges Bank Financial Stability Report No.1, 2004
The central bank of Norway, Norges Bank, has published its twice yearly Financial Stability Report 1/2004. "The short-term outlook for financial stability is regarded as satisfactory and has improved somewhat compared with the situation six months ago,"…
Sveriges Riksbank Inflation Report, No.2, 2004
Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, has published its Second Inflation Report for 2004. On the whole, the recovery in the Swedish economy has progressed largely as anticipated in the previous Inflation Report. New data suggest that net exports…
Risk Management for Central Bank Foreign Reserves
The European Central Bank released a publication entitled "Risk Management for Central Bank Foreign Reserves" on 26 May. The publication gathers contributions by academics and practitioners on the role risk management plays in the management of central…