Communication
Jeremy Stein casts doubt on Fed's communication strategy
The governor, who steps down later this month, says he failed to appreciate how challenging communicating monetary policy can be before joining the Fed
Bank of Zambia holds seminar for local journalists
The Bank of Zambia held a three-day seminar for journalists at a holiday resort last week, impressing on them their responsibility to provide accurate information on the economy
Central bank communication key to herding behaviour, BoJ paper finds
‘Two layer’ model of investor information highlights crucial role for central bank communications in causing – and containing – herding behaviour in markets
Bank of Canada revamps website
The Canadian central bank has sought to simplify the design of its website and make it easier for users to locate information across a variety of devices
IMF minutes to go public after three years, not five
IMF plumps for greater transparency for the majority of its board meetings, but those used to discuss allocation of fund resources will stay secret for five years
FX Invest Europe: Deutsche Bundesbank official praises Fed’s QE exit strategy
Christine Glockmann says other central bankers may copy Fed’s communication over QE tapering; says eurozone economic policy suffers from member states 'bickering'
Reserve Bank of Fiji targets more effective communication
The central bank will build a new communications framework and resurrect plans for a financial stability report as part of its strategic outlook for 2014-18
Bernanke praises Volcker and Greenspan contributions on policy communication
Current Fed chair uses centenary celebration to hail contributions of his two predecessors in improving the Fed's communications - including ‘qualitative forward guidance' under Greenspan
Reserve Bank of New Zealand looks to ramp up ‘alternative' communication
RBNZ doubles down on speeches and alternative media channels such as videos and infographics to cut through post-crisis ‘noise'; follows Riksbank's communication strategy overhaul earlier this week
Sveriges Riksbank overhauls communication strategy
Sweden's central bank will focus on ‘dialogue' to better explain its operations; 'openness and clarity' remain guiding principles for the bank, which regularly tops transparency rankings
Publishing minutes is vital for central bank comms, say markets
Market participant survey gives Fed highest score for policy and communication in the wake of the financial crisis; ECB scores worse in the absence of published minutes
Fed minutes ‘significantly affect’ US asset prices
New York Fed economic policy review finds that US asset price volatility increases when the Fed releases minutes from policy meetings, but less so since FOMC has become more transparent
NY Fed staff say effect of policy changes depend on risk environment
New staff report argues that macro policy announcements affect asset prices to different extents depending on the existing economic outlook; when risk is elevated, the impact is reduced
Haldane says central banks have ‘further to go’ to improve communication
Bank of England executive director Andrew Haldane says policy-makers are still searching for a language that resonates with the general public
Fed researchers find effects of QE ‘minimal' without guidance on rates
Paper by senior economists from the New York and San Francisco Feds argues that signalling a rate rise will be far more meaningful than communication on when asset purchases might come to an end
Bullard says Fed should ape ECB press conference schedule
James Bullard of the St Louis Fed wants to see the Fed chair give a press conference after every meeting of the FOMC - not after alternate meetings, as is the case currently
ECB's Cœuré and Asmussen call for published minutes
Public account 'should include who voted for what, and the reasoning behind that vote', say executive board members; move would bring ECB in line with other major central banks
Banque de France launches mobile app
Users can access key statistics, speeches, news and other information from the French central bank through their mobile phone
PMA launches three-pronged social media strategy
Palestine Monetary Authority launches Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, putting it among the relatively few central banks worldwide that use multiple social media
Shirai says Bank of Japan’s communication has ‘room for improvement’
Board member explains reasons for dissent in recent monetary policy meeting; says Outlook Report is unclear in some places and misleading in others
Central banks adopting social media at different paces, finds CBJ study
A new Central Banking journal study shows that institutions around the world are adopting very different approaches in their deployment of social media techniques
New DSGE model finds anticipated 'low for long' policy can cause a boom
Finnish paper, inspired by US policy of the early 2000s, finds combination of too-low-for-too-long interest rate policy and optimism leads to an increase in overall leverage
Fed working paper measures FOMC comms effect against theory of UIP
Paper finds 'little evidence' for a changed relationship between FOMC announcements and US interest rates since the 'onset of the zero lower bound'
IMF’s Shafik says communication is central banks' ‘most important tool’
Deputy managing director Nemat Shafik believes communication is the most valuable of central banks’ unconventional policies; highlights benefits of maintaining a disciplined message