Transformations of the Cambridge Critique

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-254
Author(s):  
Bertram Schefold

The debate on capital theory has recently been revived. Reswitching had led to agnosticism regarding the substitution of capital for labour in consequence of changes in the rate or profit. The paradoxes of reswitching and reverse capital deepening now turn out to be rare for theoretical reasons, and this is confirmed empirically, but new results also show that the possibilities of substitution between capital and labour are quite limited; their ratio is given within narrow limits by technology, if the choice of techniques is efficient. This is a new critique of neoclassical theory; it confirms the complementary theories of distribution advanced by the Cambridge economists: the share of profits is influenced by effective demand (Kaldor) and by the level of interest rates as an element of cost (Sraffa). Both theories presuppose the stability of the capital-output ratio. This finding also sheds light on the options of central banks regarding the fixation of interest rates. JEL Code: B51, C67, D57, E11, E13, E44

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (208) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bas Bakker

In the last few decades, real GDP growth and investment in advanced countries have declined in tandem. This slowdown was not the result of weak demand (there has been no shift along the Okun curve), but of a decline in potential output growth (which has shifted the Okun curve to the left). We analyze what happens if central banks mistakenly diagnose the problem as insufficient demand, when it is actually a supply problem. We do this in a real model, in which inflation is not an issue. We show that aggressive central bank action may revive gross investment, but it will not revive net investment or growth. Moreover, low interest rates will lead to an increase in the capital output ratio, a low return on capital and high leverage. We show that these forecasts are in line with what has happened in major advanced countries.


Author(s):  
Ranald C. Michie

The Global Financial Crisis that took place in 2007–9 was the product of both long-term trends and a specific set of circumstances. In particular, the thirty years preceding that crisis had witnessed a refashioning of the global financial system, which was, itself, a reaction to that which had emerged after the Second World War. Over those thirty years competitive markets gradually replaced governments and central banks in determining the volume and direction of international financial flows. The interaction within and between economies took place on a daily basis through the markets for short-term credit, long-term loans, foreign exchange, securities, and a growing array of ever more complex financial instruments that allowed risks to be hedged whether in terms of interest rates, currencies, exposure to counterparties, or other variables. This was a period of great innovation as new financial instruments were created in order to match the needs of lenders for high returns, certainty, and stability and those of borrowers for low cost finance and flexibility in terms of the amount, currency, and timing of repayment. Nevertheless, governments remained heavily involved through the role played by regulators and central banks, generating confidence in the stability of the new financial system. That confidence was destroyed by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and had not been rebuilt by 2020.


Author(s):  
Ilona Skibińska-Fabrowska

Faced with the financial crisis in 2008, the central banks used conventional monetary policy instruments. However, the problem of zero lower bond forced them to use unconventional monetary policy instruments - quantitative easing carried out as part of the so-called central bank balance sheet politics and relying on the buying by the central bank of di&erent kinds of financial assets - resulting in stabilization of the situation on financial markets in conditions of low long-term interest rates. Balance sheet totals of the central banks rose repeatedly. Their structure also changed. At present possible effects for the stability of the financial system of the return to the pre-crisis monetary policy are the topic of debate. The exit strategy is giving rise to a significant risks and the coordination of economic policy and the transparency of action taken by monetary authorities can only minimize possible negative effects


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 1820
Author(s):  
Ekaterina V. Orlova

This research deals with the challenge of reducing banks’ credit risks associated with the insolvency of borrowing individuals. To solve this challenge, we propose a new approach, methodology and models for assessing individual creditworthiness, with additional data about borrowers’ digital footprints to implement comprehensive analysis and prediction of a borrower’s credit profile. We suggest a model for borrowers’ clustering based on the method of hierarchical clustering and the k-means method, which groups actual borrowers having similar creditworthiness and similar credit risks into homogeneous clusters. We also design the model for borrowers’ classification based on the stochastic gradient boosting (SGB) method, which reliably determines the cluster number and therefore the risk level for a new borrower. The developed models are the basis for decision making regarding the decision about lending value, interest rates and lending terms for each risk-homogeneous borrower’s group. The modified version of the methodology for assessing individual creditworthiness is presented, which is to reduce the credit risks and to increase the stability and profitability of financial organizations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Lelart

The evolution of the international monetary System prompted the nine members of the E.E.C. to establish a European Monetary System. The new statutes of the I.M.F. have in fact legalized the practice of flexible exchange rates and sanctioned the dollar's inconvertibility while eliminating the role of gold. Further, the increasing importance of the international capital markets fosters the unlimited expansion of international liquidities. it is in response to this context then that Europe seeks to create a zone of stability and to manage its own international tender in accordance with rules that it has set for itself. The author draws a positive conclusion as the System has operated without major problems so far. Nevertheless, difficulties remain: the international environment has not improved given the abrupt strengthening of the dollar and the increase in American interest rates. In addition, progress with regard to cooperation among the Nine remains slow and political change in France makes any prognosis respecting the future of the European Monetary System difficult. It was anticipated that the System would be Consolidated rapidly. It would in that event contribute more effectively to the stability of the international monetary System. It could, on the other hand, sharpen competition between Europe and the United States, between the Ecu and S.D.Rs. and between the European Monetary Fund and the International Monetary Fund.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Alvarez ◽  
Francesco Lippi

We present a monetary model with segmented asset markets that implies a persistent fall in interest rates after a once-and-for-all increase in liquidity. The gradual propagation mechanism produced by our model is novel in the literature. We provide an analytical characterization of this mechanism, showing that the magnitude of the liquidity effect on impact, and its persistence, depend on the ratio of two parameters: the long-run interest rate elasticity of money demand and the intertemporal substitution elasticity. The model simultaneously explains the short-run “instability” of money demand estimates as well as the stability of long-run interest-elastic money demand. (JEL E13, E31, E41, E43, E52, E62)


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-135
Author(s):  
Olga Kuznetsova ◽  
Sergey Merzlyakov ◽  
Sergey Pekarski

The global financial crisis of 2007–2009 has changed the landscape for monetary policy. Many central banks in developed economies had to employ various unconventional policy tools to overcome a liquidity trap. These included large-scale asset purchase programs, forward guidance and negative interest rate policies. While recently, some central banks were able to return to conventional monetary policy, for many countries the effectiveness of unconventional policies remains an issue. In this paper we assess diverse practices of unconventional monetary policy with a particular focus on expectations and time consistency. The principal aspect of successful policy in terms of overcoming a liquidity trap is the confidence that interest rates will remain low for a prolonged period. However, forming such expectations faces the problem of time inconsistency of optimal policy. We discuss some directions to solve this problem.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Ita Rakhmawati ◽  
Suhadi Suhadi

The crisis in 1997 is the image of the high rise in inflation in Indonesia. The phenomenon of inflation when it reached 82.40% (Anas, 2006). The early mid-1998 also experienced a weakening of the rupiah against the dollar. Condition stable economy is the desire of each country in comparison with the state of the economy has always fluctuated. Economic stability will create an atmosphere conducive economy. stable climatic conditions in the expected level of welfare is the purpose in each country. One of the efforts to maintain economic stability is through monetary policy. For example, with economic growth, maintain price stability (inflation), the achievement of the balance of payments and the reduction of unemployment (Natsir, 2008). The stability of the financial system of a country of which reflected their price stability, in the sense that there are a great price that can be harmful to society, both consumers and manufacturers that will damage the joints of the economy. However, the implementation of the policy, Bank Indonesia as the monetary authority uses monetary variables such as interest rates and the money supply to cope with economic shocks such as inflation. Besides the need for the government’s role in maintaining the rupiah to avoid turmoil in the economy. The importance of inflation control based on the consideration that the high inflation and unstable negative impact on socio-economic conditions of society. Among the high inflation will cause a decline in the real income of the community so that the standard of living of the people down and eventually make everyone, especially the poor get poorer. From one of the effects of inflation are so wide will impact people’s demands to meet the needs of more and more difficult. Their continuousprice increases being offset by rising income of the communities, it can make sure the Indonesian state would worsen. As a result many people’s needs can not be met, so many things that must be met by way of credit. The number of community needs that must be met will cause world of opportunities for banks to offer credit readily available to meet the needs. The third object of research above (inflation, poverty, and credit) does affect the stability of the financial system? In this study using secondary data from the Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) and Bank Indonesia (BI) with time series data from the years 2007-2015. The process of data analysis was performed using OLS regression with Eviews 8.0. Based on research, if only partial test of the poverty variable significantly affect the stability of the financial system amounted to 2,023 with α = 10%. Meanwhile, two other variables (inflation and poverty) is not significant to the stability of the financial systemMeanwhile, two other variables (inflation and poverty) is not significant to the stability of the financial system. While the value of R-Square (0.629900), indicating that the three independent variables / free consisting of inflation, poverty and credit simultaneously have the effect that make the stabilization of the financial system increases or decreases. That is jointly independent variables (inflation, poverty and loans) contributed / effect of 62.9% against the stability of the financial system. The rest is the influence of other factors beyond the three independent variables studied.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Ergys Misha

The Taylor’s Rule Central Banks is applying widely today from Central Banks for design the monetary policy and for determination of interest rates. The purpose of this paper is to assess monetary policy rule in Albania, in view of an inflation targeting regime. In the first version of the Model, the Taylor’s Rule assumes that base interest rate of the monetary policy varies depending on the change of (1) the inflation rate and (2) economic growth (Output Gap).Through this paper it is proposed changing the objective of the Bank of Albania by adding a new objective, that of "financial stability", along with the “price stability”. This means that it is necessary to reassess the Taylor’s Rule by modifying it with incorporation of indicators of financial stability. In the case of Albania, we consider that there is no regular market of financial assets in the absence of the Stock Exchange. For this reason, we will rely on the credit developmet - as a way to measure the financial cycle in the economy. In this case, the base rate of monetary policy will be changed throught: (1) Targeting Inflation Rate, (2) Nominal Targeting of Economic Growth, and (3) Targeting the Gap of the Ratio Credit/GDP (mitigating the boom cycle, if the gap is positive, and the contractiocycle if the gap is negative).The research data show that, it is necessary that the Bank of Albania should also include in its objective maintaining the financial stability. In this way, the contribution expected from the inclusion of credit gap indicators in Taylor’s Rule, will be higher and sustainable in time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-41
Author(s):  
Liběna Černohorská ◽  
Darina Kubicová

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of negative interest rates on economic activity in a selected group of countries, in particular Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, for the period 2009–2018. The central banks of these countries were among the first to implement negative interest rates to revive the economic growth. Therefore, this study analyzed long- and short-term relationships between interest rates announced by central banks and gross domestic product and blue chip stock indices. Time series analysis was conducted using Engle-Granger cointegration analysis and Granger causality testing to identify long- and short-term relationship. The first step, using the Akaike criteria, was to determine the optimal delay of the entire time interval for the analyzed periods. Time series that seem to be stationary were excluded based on the results of the Dickey-Fuller test. Further testing continued with the Engle-Granger test if the conditions were met. It was designed to identify co-integration relationships that would show correlation between the selected variables. These tests showed that at a significance level of 0.05, there is no co-integration between any time series in the countries analyzed. On the basis of these analyses, it was determined that there were no long-term relationships between interest rates and GDP or stock indices for these countries during the monitored time period. Using Granger causality, the study only confirmed short-term relationship between interest rates and GDP for all examined countries, though not between interest rates and the stock indices. Acknowledgment The paper has been created with the financial support of The Czech Science Foundation GACR 18-05244S – Innovative Approaches to Credit Risk Management.


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