Envisaging global balance-sheet capitalism: The Bank for International Settlements as a collective organic intellectual

This article examines how the Bank for International Settlements, as a collective organic intellectual of finance capital, has sought to maintain the hegemony of financial globalization in the context of an increasingly fractured global order following the 2007–2009 financial crisis. I show how the Bank for International Settlements’ defence of financial globalization has pivoted around the construction of a new ‘economic imaginary’ of global capitalism in which the global financial cycle, which culminates in systemic financial crises, threatens economic and political stability. Asserting that this cycle can be ‘properly managed’, the Bank for International Settlements has advocated a set of formal shifts in macro-policy frameworks. Focusing on the temporality of economic governance as envisioned by the Bank for International Settlements, I highlight two important dimensions of the organization’s discourse: the reduction of policy to process and the fetishization of policy innovation. Here, the pursuit of principles of ‘good’ economic management is prioritized over the achievement of concrete economic or social outcomes. In traversing this economic imaginary, this article offers insights into how global capitalism and its management are envisioned by elites in the current period of hegemonic disorganization and political-economic turmoil.

Exploring BIS credit-to-GDP gap critiques: the Swiss case

A growing body of literature has highlighted two important caveats to the credit-to-GDP gap as advocated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The first relates to the approach used to normalise credit (i.e. dividing nominal credit by GDP). In this regard, critics have argued that GDP movements, that may or may not be relevant, run the risk of affecting a normalised measure of credit. The second relates to the use of the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter to estimate the gap’s trend component. In this regard, critics have emphasised several measurement problems associated with using the HP filter. In this paper, we assess the relevance of these critiques for Switzerland. Our findings show that despite its drawbacks, the BIS gap is a reliable measure of excess credit in Switzerland. Alternatives do not provide clear advantages, rather they are considerably more complex to estimate and come with their own set of pitfalls. For policymaking purposes, the BIS gap’s signal should be complemented with narratives based on a broader set of credit metrics to ensure that an all-encompassing risk assessment is made.

More rigour in rating ESG products will aid investment

Significance Ratings providers have been tightening their methodologies and scoring of ESG funds but there is no universal methodology for categorising firms or funds as sustainable, or for monitoring their sustainability. Impacts Investors will run the risk of investing in funds that are rated ‘sustainable’ but actually invest in firms with non-sustainable practises. ESG rating is likely to become part of the annual audit process in many jurisdictions but differences in methodology will persist. Questions of impartiality will persist as the accountants and rating agencies tend to be paid by the institutions they are assessing. Green bond issuance will surge; the Bank for International Settlements runs two green bond funds and will help to set industry standards.

DIGITAL INSTITUTIALIZATION AT THE GLOBAL, INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS

В статье анализируются новейшие процессы цифровизации в аспекте цифровой институциализации, охватывающей различные уровни современной мировой экономики - от глобального до национального. Цель статьи - на основе анализа практики внедрения цифровой институциализации на различных уровнях выявить их особенности и соответствие современным требованиям развития мировой экономики и системы международных финансов. Научная новизна исследования заключается, во-первых, в рассмотрении недостаточно изученного в экономической литературе направления (цифровой институциализации), во-вторых, в анализе и выявлении закономерностей на основе новейших статистических данных и последних нормативных изменений. Несмотря на присущие им некоторые характерные черты, в целом отмечается нарастание цифровизационных процессов, прежде всего при участии финансово-технологических компаний, а также при поддержке регулирующих органов. Анализируя их протекание, автор приходит к выводу о нарастающем стимулировании использования диджитальных валют в форме стейблкоина, поддерживаемого Банком международных расчетов и G7 - на глобальном уровне, и соответствующими институтами государственного регулирования - на региональном и национальном уровнях. The article analyzes the latest digitalization processes in the aspect of digital institutialization, covering various levels of the modern world economy - from global to national. The purpose of the article is, based on an analysis of the practice of introducing digital institutialization at various levels, to identify their features and comply them with the modern requirements for the development of the world economy and the system of international finance. The scientific novelty of the study lies, firstly, in considering the direction (digital institutialization) that has not been sufficiently studied in the economic studies, and secondly, in analyzing and identifying patterns based on the latest statistical data and the latest regulatory changes. Despite some characteristic features inherent to them in general, there is an increase in digitalization processes, primarily with the participation of fintech companies, as well as with the support of regulatory bodies. Analyzing their course, the author comes to the conclusion about the growing stimulation of the use of digital currencies in the form of a stablecoin, supported by the Bank for International Settlements and the G7 - at the global level, and by the relevant institutions of state regulation - at the regional and national levels.

THE TRANSITIONAL STATE OF THE WORLD MONETARY AND FINANCIAL SYSTEM: OPPORTUNITIES FOR RUSSIA

The article is devoted to the analysis of approaches to the assessment of the state of the world monetary and financial system by leading international financial organizations. The positions of the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements and the World Economic Forum are presented, the program documents of these key participants of the world monetary and financial system are analyzed in detail and contradictions in the proposed solutions to overcome the crisis are identified. The authors note that in the current situation, when the key participants of the global monetary and financial system do not offer a single consolidated solution, Russia has an opportunity to strengthen its position on ensuring financial and economic security. To do this, it is proposed to create an investment reserve circuit based on commodity and currency reserves formed according to the author’s algorithm. The existing issue circuit, which operates according to the rules and norms of the world monetary and financial system, and the created investment circuit will form a national two-circuit monetary and financial system, interaction in which will be carried out with the help of the new financial instrument «calculated gold» proposed by the authors.

Międzynarodowe waluty safe haven – bezpieczna przystań w czasie kryzysu

Purpose – The aim is to assess the importance of the most significant international currencies as safe haven currencies in the context of their position in the global economy in the light of the worldwide literature. Research method – The basic research methods used in the article are the study of world literature and the analysis of statistical data delivered by the European Central Bank and the Bank for International Settlements. Results – It is widely believed that the most important international currencies, the US dollar, the euro and the yen, also act as a safe haven. The conclusions from the analysis show that not all international currencies are equally considered as a safe haven. The most important safe haven currencies are the Swiss franc, the yen, the US dollar and, to a lesser extent, the euro. Performing the function of an international currency by the domestic currency predisposes it to be a safe haven, but this does not mean that it cannot be a currency that does not belong to the group of the most important international currencies. Implications /recommendations – The analysis of the significance of international currencies used as a safe haven in times of financial and economic crises, presented in the article, shows the importance of the problem and implies the need to undertake further research into this issue in the context of the benefits of using safe haven currencies by investors operating in the global economy.

Global Club Goods and the Fragmented Global Financial Safety Net

It is generally regarded that a robust global financial safety net is a global public good. Yet public goods models that explain the existence of the global financial safety net cannot also explain why it is highly fragmented and provisioned so inequitably. This study shows that the global financial safety net's existence, fragmentation, and inequitable coverage can be explained by modeling the global financial safety net as a global club good. The primary finding of the model is that when a state has a monopoly on the provision of a non-rival and excludable good (i.e., a club good), separate multilateral and bilateral club governance structures emerge, each with a unique structure and cost. Brief case studies of the global financial safety net provisioned by the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, and the Bank for International Settlements support the model.