When bad news is good for some
For those following the UK’s economic recovery, there is little to cheer in today’s closely-watched indicator of the services sector. For the Bank of England, there is every reason to be pleased. The...
View ArticleMPC preview: 13 January 2011
Current policy rate: 0.5 per cent Consensus expectation: no change Inflation target: 2 per cent “at all times” CPI inflation rate: 3.3 per cent in November Notable special measures in operation...
View ArticleHas the King got new clothes?
Mervyn King has just delivered an important speech in Newcastle. As ever with the Bank of England governor, it is extremely well-written and his argument is tight. The speech is, however, infused with...
View ArticleWeale shows his dovish side
Martin Weale’s speech today shows how far the policy debate has shifted at the Bank of England. As recently as early July, this external member of the monetary policy committee was voting for higher...
View ArticleWhat today’s Nobel prizewinners tell us about monetary policy
Monetary policy is no longer shrouded in mystery; the curtain has been pulled back on the great and powerful Federal Reserve to reveal Ben Bernanke. That central bankers now bother to tell us what...
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Live blog: Sir Mervyn King at the Treasury committee
Sir Mervyn King. Image by Getty. Welcome to our live blog on Sir Mervyn King’s appearance at the Treasury select committee. The governor has been called before the committee to field questions on the...
View ArticleMonetary policy’s Catch 22
Because monetary policy acts with a lag, it has to rely on forecasts. However, as the Bank of England’s attempts at prediction have illustrated, central banks’ forecasts, and indeed those of most...
View ArticleECB’s bond buying is a game of two halves
According to the Maradona theory of monetary policy, as outlined by Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, a central bank can let expectations that it will act – rather than actual action –...
View ArticleMonetary policy defeatism reigns at the Bank of England
Charlie Bean’s speech on Wednesday evening was grim, even by central bankers’ standards. Mr Bean is the Bank’s deputy governor with responsibility for monetary policy. But he doesn’t seem to think that...
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Bank of England’s culture attacked
©Getty Excessive deference and hierarchy are damaging the Bank of England’s effectiveness, according to three independent reviews that criticise the central bank’s culture. The reviews into operations...
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Central bankers centre-stage
Mark Carney, the incoming governor of the Bank of England, was grilled by MPs and his ECB counterpart Mario Draghi faced awkward questions. By Tom Burgis, Ben Fenton and Lina Saigol in London with...
View ArticleFederal Reserve: QE3, exit strategy and the fiscal crisis
The paper at this year’s US Monetary Policy Forum – where market economists get to present to central bankers – is called “Crunch Time: Fiscal Crisis and the Role of Monetary Policy“. It shows a new...
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You say you want ECB minutes? We got minutes
Graffiti outside the ECB's future headquarters. (Getty) Could the European Central Bank be learning a thing or two about managing the message? Ahead of Thursday’s interest rate-setting meeting, when...
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ECB forward guidance: all very Delphic
Not the ECB (Getty) The Bundesbank has weighed in on what forward guidance means for the European Central Bank and if you want the short version it boils down to: we have not forgotten about inflation....
View ArticleDudley: Dodd-Frank = lower Fed rates forever
The most newsy point from NY Fed president William Dudley’s speech today was his call for a change in exit strategy, urging the central bank to reinvest in its mortgage portfolio. But there was a lot...
View ArticleThe good and bad news on the UK economy
As the overall level of growth in the UK continues to be robust – at 0.8 per cent in the third quarter – the detail of the figures just published will keep everyone guessing about the sustainability of...
View ArticleExcessively political
When the FT reported that senior Bank of England staff including Monetary Policy Committee members thought Mervyn King, Bank governor, had overstepped the line separating monetary and fiscal policy,...
View ArticleCentral bank mash-up, carry bash-up
Here’s Nomura on what it calls signs of ‘postmodern monetary policy’ in emerging Europe and the Middle East. It’s a very apt phrase describing the confusion in some central bank quarters. And it looks...
View ArticlePlay central banker at the ECB
A new game has been launched by the ECB – and apparently even the San Francisco Fed is tweeting about it. If you thought “monetary policy” and “game” couldn’t be sensibly strung together in a sentence,...
View ArticleBean here before
Apologies for the terrible pun. The point is that Charlie Bean’s speech today could have been delivered in mid 2008. If fact, the Bank’s deputy governor did deliver a very similar speech in April 2008....
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