A Survey of the International Evidence and Lessons Learned About Unconventional Monetary Policies : Is a ‘New Normal’ in Our Future?

This study examines the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policies (UMP). It considers whether these policies have been successful and where their effects remain uncertain. We survey both the domestic financial market and macro‐economic effects of UMP in the economies where these policies were introduced and their international spillover effects. The paper considers the impact of a wide range of UMP rather than the effects of specific policy instruments. We also provide a retrospective on the important case of Japan beginning in the late 1990s and ask whether the Eurozone’s experience with UMP is substantively different given its structure of policymaking. Finally, we ask: if the ‘old normal’ is not in our future, should the ‘new normal’ in monetary policy routinely include what we now refer to as UMP? We conclude that UMP can prevent economic collapse but are not designed to promote stronger long‐term economic growth. Apart from new communication strategies, the use of UMP under normal circumstances does not appear to be a sound monetary policy strategy. Failure to learn this lesson might also enable future policy makers to ask or expect too much from their central banks