Quantitative Easing and the Independence of the Bank of England

2017 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. R65-R69 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Allen

This paper argues that the Bank of England's independence in monetary policy has been compromised as a result of quantitative easing (QE) and makes practical suggestions for restoring it as far as possible, by transferring the gilts that the Bank has bought to the Debt Management Office of the Treasury and thereby shrinking the Bank's balance sheet. The paper discusses the problems that will arise when QE is unwound and suggests that they would be less intractable if the unwinding were managed by the Debt Management Office.

Subject US tightening continued this month despite lower inflation expectations. Significance Monetary policy rifts have deepened since the decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on June 14 to raise interest rates for the second time this year despite inflation easing and oil prices falling below 45 dollars per barrel. Growing discord between central banks and bond markets has spread to the Bank of England (BoE), where three of the eight committee members disagreed with the June 15 decision to keep rates on hold despite inflation spiking to its highest since June 2013. The ECB and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) are also under pressure to set out plans to wind down their quantitative easing (QE) programmes. Impacts ‘Reflation trading’ continues to unwind; the world stock of negative-yielding government bonds has surged to nearly 10 trillion dollars. US equity markets are hovering near records despite a plethora of vulnerabilities, including lower oil prices and rising political risks. Emerging markets (EM) inflows continue to surge, but higher US rates may force EMs to raise rates before they are ready, hitting activity. The divergence between rising US rates and ultra-loose ECB and BoJ policy will cushion the dollar, protecting it from rising US risks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Halyna Alekseievska ◽  
Anzor Mumladze

After the fall of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the financial crisis turned into a global crisis and had a negative impact on the real economy. During the crisis, there has been a significant decrease in key macroeconomic indicators, such as GDP, short-term interest rates, unemployment and inflation. The GDP growth rate had taken a negative value in developed countries. Inflation was below 1 percent, and deflation was observed in Japan, which in turn slowed down economic development. Central banks responded to the crisis with a change in interest rates, but this was not enough to calm financial markets and improve the real economy. Most central banks have developed many new monetary policy tools, including communication strategies, credit policies, and large asset purchases. These new measures are often called “unconventional” monetary policies. The purpose of the article is to study quantitative easing as one of the unconventional measures of monetary policy. Methodology. The article uses general scientific and special methods: generalization, systematization, economic and statistical analysis, graphic and comparison methods. This allowed us to study the theoretical foundations of the quantitative easing policy, determine the economic background for these measures application, analyze the development stages and the basic rules of functioning policy. The quantitative easing policies usage was also examined on the examples of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan. Results. The main trends and economic conditions, under which these methods can be used in future, were identified using an analysis of the quantitative easing application background. The policy’s main components analysis provides a clear understanding of the quantitative easing essence. As a result of the unconventional monetary policy usage, there has been a significant expansion of the USA, Japan and the Eurozone central banks' balances, which amounts to more than 10 trillion USD. Due to this process, central banks have become key bondholders. Practical meaning. The given results analysis will determine that kind of unconventional monetary policy effectiveness and the possible consequences of a significant increase in the central banks’ balance sheet assets. Value/originality. In the article, the conditions, under which unconventional monetary policy has been applied, are systematized and the four central banks’ quantitative easing policy is compared.


Author(s):  
Yilmaz Akyüz

The preceding chapters have examined the deepened integration of emerging and developing economies (EDEs) into the international financial system in the new millennium and their changing vulnerabilities to external financial shocks. They have discussed the role that policies in advanced economies played in this process, including those that culminated in the global financial crisis and the unconventional monetary policy of zero-bound interest rates and quantitative easing adopted in response to the crisis, as well as policies in EDEs themselves....


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
FÁBIO HENRIQUE BITTES TERRA ◽  
PHILIP ARESTIS

ABSTRACT The purpose of this contribution is to develop a Post Keynesian monetary policy model, presenting its goals, tools, and channels. The original contribution this paper develops, following (Keynes’s 1936, 1945) proposals, is the use of debt management as an instrument of monetary policy, along with the interest rate and regulation. Moreover, this paper draws its monetary policy model by broadly and strongly relying on Keynes’s original writings. A monetary policy model erected upon this basis relates itself directly to the Post Keynesian efforts to offer a monetary policy framework substantially different from the Inflation Targeting Regime of the New Macroeconomic Consensus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1069-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumio Hayashi ◽  
Junko Koeda

We propose an empirical framework for analyzing the macroeconomic effects of quantitative easing (QE) and apply it to Japan. The framework is a regime‐switching structural vector autoregression in which the monetary policy regime, chosen by the central bank responding to economic conditions, is endogenous and observable. QE is modeled as one of the regimes. The model incorporates an exit condition for terminating QE. We find that higher reserves at the effective lower bound raise inflation and output, and that terminating QE may be contractionary or expansionary, depending on the state of the economy at the point of exit.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Roger E. A. Farmer ◽  
Pawel Zabczyk

This paper is about the effectiveness of qualitative easing, a form of unconventional monetary policy that changes the risk composition of the central bank balance sheet. We construct a general equilibrium model where agents have rational expectations, and there is a complete set of financial securities, but where some agents are unable to participate in financial markets. We show that a change in the risk composition of the central bank’s balance sheet affects equilibrium asset prices and economic activity. We prove that, in our model, a policy in which the central bank stabilizes non-fundamental fluctuations in the stock market is self-financing and leads to a Pareto efficient outcome.


ORDO ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ansgar Belke

ZusammenfassungDie EZB sollte der Versuchung widerstehen, die Deflationsgefahr in der Eurozone durch zusätzliche Varianten unkonventioneller Geldpolitik (z.B. „Quantitative Easing“) zu bekämpfen. Was in den USA oder in Großbritannien geklappt haben mag, wird in der Eurozone nicht funktionieren. Es besteht gar die Gefahr einer Deflationsspirale, wie dieser Beitrag zeigt. Eingebettet werden die Argumente in die aktuelle Debatte um den „zu starken“ Euro.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-140
Author(s):  
Winston W. Dou ◽  
Andrew W. Lo ◽  
Ameya Muley ◽  
Harald Uhlig

We provide a critical review of macroeconomic models used for monetary policy at central banks from a finance perspective. We review the history of monetary policy modeling, survey the core monetary models used by major central banks, and construct an illustrative model for those readers who are unfamiliar with the literature. Within this framework, we highlight several important limitations of current models and methods, including the fact that local-linearization approximations omit important nonlinear dynamics, yielding biased impulse-response analysis and parameter estimates. We also propose new features for the next generation of macrofinancial policy models, including a substantial role for the financial sector, the government balance sheet, and unconventional monetary policies; heterogeneity, reallocation, and redistribution effects;the macroeconomic impact of large nonlinear risk premium dynamics; time-varying uncertainty; financial sector and systemic risks; imperfect product market and markups; and further advances in solution, estimation, and evaluation methods for dynamic quantitative structural models.


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