As the great economic ice age gradually thaws, the thoughts of governments, like those of lovers, turn naturally to the spring. Or will spring be a little late? Does old hag winter still hold us in her icy grip? Must gratification be deferred yet again? Governments would like nothing better than to declare…
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  Although the gloss has worn off the market’s initial enthusiastic endorsement of Beijing’s ambitious reform plans unveiled last month, there is little doubt they represent a major further move towards freeing financial markets – and promoting the international role of the RMB.   In addition to changes in how companies file for stock market…
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  Professor Allan Meltzer has for some years advocated a reform of international monetary arrangements based on a joint adoption by large economies or areas of similar inflation targets. This is a summary.   The US, the Euro, Japan and China (if it ends its currency controls) should adopt a common 0 to 2 percent…
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  The global monetary unit woud be defined by international treaty. The value of the unit is defined by a basket of diversified global equity shares, represented by an index (see W Engels, 1981). An international currency board would be tasked to hold the value of the monetary unit constant against the basket (index). I…
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A common criticism of proposals for reform of the international monetary system is that they are not politically possible. Of course, there are other grounds on which they can be and are criticised – especially when they call for a return to stable exchange rates, a howl goes up that this would sacrifice the domestic…
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At the conclusion of a recent star-studded IMF conference, chief economist Olivier Blanchard argued that we may need negative real interest rates for a long time. Here is the passage in full: “Now let me now turn to monetary policy, and touch on three issues: the implications of the liquidity trap, the provision of liquidity,…
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All the chest-beating about the financial crisis distracts attention from the fact that many parties gained from it. Governments – except for a few peripheral countries – obtained cheap financing. The US benefiited from a boost to international demand for the dollar, helping to put the euro in its place, just as a previous wave…
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I have written elsewhere about Mr Carney’s first 5 months (subscription) at the Bank of England. I showed that in terms of the goals he was set by the UK Treasury (both those stated and those unstated but implicit in his appointment), he has made remarkable progress – with luck playing a part. The UK economy has…
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To mark publication of the “bigger and better” 360-page paperback (at £16.99 from Amazon, with a new 38-page preface) this and the following  posts list the book’s main themes, by Chapter, each with an update. Seen from November 2013, how have recent developments changed the analysis and/or policy prescription? Currrent Economic Outlook Although the short…
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Recognising the public demand for reform, governments began a search for alternative policy models and structures soon after the outbreak of the global financial crisis (GFC). This can be viewed at national, regional and international levels. 5. Improving National Policies: At the national level this has taken the form of supplementing inflation targeting with various…
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