Against the background of continued growth disappointments, depressed inflation expectations, and declining real equilibrium interest rates, a number of central banks have implemented negative interest rate policies (NIRP) to provide additional monetary policy stimulus over the past few years....

We explore the effectiveness and balance of benefits and costs of so-called "unconventional" monetary policy measures extensively implemented in the wake of the financial crisis: balance sheet policies (commonly termed "quantitative easing"), forward guidance and negative policy rates. Our...

Is inflation a monetary phenomenon? In the decades since the influential work of Milton Friedman, the great moderation has seemingly put to bed the idea that monetary aggregates serve as a useful tool for policy makers. While many point to a structural change in the underlying relationship...

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Scotland had a stable financial system. Its stability arose from the pressure that private banks, which had the right to issue bank notes, placed on each other to behave prudently. Unlike in England, the Scottish banking system had no central...

In recent decades, investment has been lackluster despite high returns on capital, high valuations measured by Tobin’s Q, and low interest rates. In this paper, we provide an account of weak investment after the Great Recession by explaining why investment has grown decreasingly responsive to...

Leading up to the Bank of Canada’s 2021 renewal of its agreement with the government of Canada, this Commentary evaluates alternatives to the Bank’s current inflation-targeting agreement, and recommends that the agreement continue in its present form. The important elements of monetary...

The eurozone debt crisis has now reached a turning point. This Policy Brief argues for a more organised intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) to stop contagion through the creation of a quantitative easing programme, coupled with a political agreement among member states for a more...

The Russian economy has recovered from the 2008—2009 crisis and is now running close to its potential. While demand pressures risk overheating the economy in the short run, medium-term growth prospects are constrained. To address these challenges Russia should continue to strengthen the...

This paper compares central banking in the era of Bagehot's Rule (1873) and the current era of quantitative easing (QE) and zero (or near-zero) interest rate policy (ZIRP) to suggest that our analytical frameworks need updating. It also proposes some rules for emerging-market central banks to...

This paper examines the evolving role of reserve requirements as a policy tool in China. Since 2007, the Chinese central bank (PBC) has relied more on this tool to withdraw domestic liquidity surpluses, as a cheaper substitute for open-market operation instruments in this period of rapid FX...