Central bank independence remains important for core inflation containment in the current age of political populism.

Jonah Whanau

2019-04-21 10:07:54 Sun ET

Central bank independence remains important for core inflation containment in the current age of political populism. In accordance with the dual mandate of both price stability and maximum sustainable employment, most central banks seek to solve the dynamic consistency problem on the basis of a key desire to insulate monetary policy decisions from political influence.

A landmark empirical study of cross-country comparisons by Alberto Alesina and Lawrence Summers confirms that countries with better central bank independence experience lower inflation without suffering any real economic output or labor force penalty. An independent central bank can enhance fiscal discipline by reducing the relative likelihood of fiscal dominance and monetization of perennial budget deficits.

Historical experience and economic theory teach us an informative lesson. When monetary policy is subject to political control, people expect dovish expansionary interest rate adjustments and so anticipate higher wages and prices in response. The undesirable economic outcome is stagflation (or the worst-case scenario of both high inflation and high unemployment). It can cost prohibitive welfare losses for the central bank to bring down inflation with subsequent interest rate hikes. Key credible apolitical monetary policy decisions would thus promote price stability with minimal real impact on economic growth, employment, and capital investment.

 


If any of our AYA Analytica financial health memos (FHM), blog posts, ebooks, newsletters, and notifications etc, or any other form of online content curation, involves potential copyright concerns, please feel free to contact us at service@ayafintech.network so that we can remove relevant content in response to any such request within a reasonable time frame.

Blog+More

The Economist digs deep into the political economy of U.S. government shutdown over 3 days in January 2018.

Apple Boston

2018-01-13 08:39:00 Saturday ET

The Economist digs deep into the political economy of U.S. government shutdown over 3 days in January 2018.

The Economist digs deep into the political economy of U.S. government shutdown over 3 days in January 2018. In more than 4 years since 2014, U.S. government

+See More

Stock Synopsis: Top China Internet companies continue to enjoy global reach, business model monetization, and new improvements in sales and profits.

Dan Rochefort

2024-10-27 07:56:01 Sunday ET

Stock Synopsis: Top China Internet companies continue to enjoy global reach, business model monetization, and new improvements in sales and profits.

Stock Synopsis: China Internet tech titans continue to grow amid greater competition. We launch our unique coverage of top 25 China Internet stocks. In t

+See More

Volcker, Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen contribute to a Wall Street Journal op-ed on monetary policy independence.

Olivia London

2019-09-23 12:25:00 Monday ET

Volcker, Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen contribute to a Wall Street Journal op-ed on monetary policy independence.

Volcker, Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen contribute to a Wall Street Journal op-ed on monetary policy independence. These former Federal Reserve chiefs unit

+See More

BAC chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett points out that U.S. corporate debt accumulation can cause the next financial crisis.

John Fourier

2018-09-23 08:37:00 Sunday ET

BAC chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett points out that U.S. corporate debt accumulation can cause the next financial crisis.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch's chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett points out that U.S. corporate debt (not household credit supply or bank ca

+See More

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his co-authors show the innovative corporate culture and mission of the Internet search tech titan.

Daisy Harvey

2020-03-12 09:32:00 Thursday ET

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his co-authors show the innovative corporate culture and mission of the Internet search tech titan.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his co-authors show the innovative corporate culture and mission of the Internet search tech titan. Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Ro

+See More

The Sino-U.S. trade war may be the Thucydides trap or a clash of Caucasian and non-Caucasian civilizations.

Chanel Holden

2019-06-03 11:31:00 Monday ET

The Sino-U.S. trade war may be the Thucydides trap or a clash of Caucasian and non-Caucasian civilizations.

The Sino-U.S. trade war may be the Thucydides trap or a clash of Caucasian and non-Caucasian civilizations. The proverbial Thucydides trap refers to the his

+See More