Is now the time to experiment with negative interest rates?
By Brendan Brown There is a magic monetary wand out there which could accelerate economies along the road to prosperity out of the widespread destruction wrought by the global credit bubble. This wand...
View ArticleUncertain times for global economic governance
These are uncertain times for global economic governance. For over six decades after the second world war the west framed the rules of engagement for the global economy. In the initial years, the...
View ArticleTIGER update: Global economic recovery is teetering
By Eswar Prasad and Karim Foda The October 2010 TIGER update paints a sobering picture of a global economy that has lost momentum and is teetering between a slowdown and at best a tepid recovery....
View ArticleThe harm of hyperactive monetary policy
The US Fed's policy-setting committee (FOMC) undertook large asset purchases last year, buying $1.7 trillion of mortgage-related and Treasury bonds. Last month, the Fed reaffirmed the easing bias and...
View ArticleCurrency wars and Indian policy
Suddenly this month the esoteric world of international finance is resonating to the clash of currencies. On September 27 Brazil's finance minister stated that an "international currency war" has...
View ArticleEconomic recovery picks up pace, but expect some turbulence ahead
By Eswar Prasad and Karim Foda Despite a number of recent shocks, the global economic recovery is getting on to a firmer footing. The latest update of the Brookings Institution-FT Tracking Indices for...
View ArticleThe financial crisis: of blood and fungibility
By James Park With the demise of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and the subsequent septic shock that stemmed the flow of liquidity in the financial system, the Federal Reserve responded with an unprecedented...
View ArticleEuro bonds are not enough: eurozone countries need a government banker
By Thomas I. Palley The eurozone‘s public finance crisis continues to fester, reflecting both political and intellectual failure. The intellectual failure is that the crisis has been interpreted...
View ArticleAfrican Monetary Union risks perpetuating the myth Africa is one country
By Xhanti Payi One of the most difficult struggles being fought by those who wish to attract investment into Africa is to destroy the widely held belief that Africa is one big country. Africa in...
View ArticleEuro lacks a government banker, not lender of last resort
By Thomas I. Palley In his novel, The Jungle, the American muckraking author Upton Sinclair wrote about the horrendous work and sanitary conditions in the Chicago meat packing industry of the early...
View ArticleA better way to regulate financial markets: Asset based reserve requirements
By Thomas Palley There is widespread recognition that the financial crisis which triggered the Great Recession was significantly due to financial excess, particularly in real estate lending. Now,...
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Grim truths Obama should have told Hu
Barack Obama, president of the US, met Hu Jintao, president of the People’s Republic of China, for a private meeting on Tuesday. The agenda was long, covering the world economy, climate change and...
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FT column: Europe’s stragglers need German consumers
The financial crisis of 2009 is morphing into the fiscal anxieties of 2010. This is particularly true inside the eurozone. Spreads between rates of interest on Greek bonds and German bunds touched...
View ArticleFT column: How to walk the fiscal tightrope that lies before us
Niall Ferguson is not given to understatement. So I was not surprised by the claim last week that the US will face a Greek crisis. I promptly dismissed this as hysteria. Like many other high-income...
View ArticleThe eurozone and limited liability non-bank government debt
By Alistair Milne Debt is a drug. High levels of debt used for unproductive purposes result in a temporary economic high. But after the high there is the inescapable low. Who should pay the bill when...
View ArticleWould the real IMF please stand up?
By Kevin P. Gallagher Clear and consistent proposals toward crisis recovery and prevention are needed at the International Monetary Fund upcoming annual meetings. Unfortunately, the IMF has been...
View ArticleAn independent organization to ensure the global economic system’s stability...
By Michael Pomerleano Developing and developed countries alike are inextricably connected in the international financial system. Yet this system is heading into strong headwinds and a dangerous period...
View ArticleIndia: External deficit widens but the rupee appreciates sharply!
In March the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published the balance of payments data for the October-December quarter of 2009. It elicited surprisingly little comment. Surprising, because for the second...
View ArticleUS trade agreements threaten emerging markets’ financial stability
By Kevin P. Gallagher At the recent annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank Taiwan’s Central Bank governor Perng Fai-nan urged emerging market nations in Asia to use capital controls to promote...
View ArticleThe world economy is recovering
By Eswar Prasad and Karim Foda Despite all the portents of doom the world economy has been quietly mending itself. This is not to say that the recovery is firmly entrenched or that few risks remain,...
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