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

President Trump ramps up 25% tariffs on $200 billion Chinese imports soon after China backtracks on the Sino-U.S. trade agreement.

Rose Prince

2019-05-09 10:28:00 Thursday ET

President Trump ramps up 25% tariffs on $200 billion Chinese imports soon after China backtracks on the Sino-U.S. trade agreement.

President Trump ramps up 25% tariffs on $200 billion Chinese imports soon after China backtracks on the Sino-American trade agreement. U.S. trade envoy Robe

+See More

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing announces his retirement in March 2018 with an incredible rags-to-riches life story.

John Fourier

2018-03-11 08:27:00 Sunday ET

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing announces his retirement in March 2018 with an incredible rags-to-riches life story.

At 89 years old, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing announces his retirement in March 2018. With a personal net worth of $35 billion, Li has an incredible ra

+See More

Apple unveils 3 iPhone 11 models with new original video services and stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon.

Joseph Corr

2019-10-13 16:22:00 Sunday ET

Apple unveils 3 iPhone 11 models with new original video services and stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon.

Apple unveils 3 iPhone 11 models with new original video services and stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon. Apple releases t

+See More

World politics, economics, and new ideas from the Psychology of Money written by Morgan Housel

Daphne Basel

2023-10-19 08:26:00 Thursday ET

World politics, economics, and new ideas from the Psychology of Money written by Morgan Housel

World politics, economics, and new ideas from the Psychology of Money written by Morgan Housel We would like to provide both economic and non-economic th

+See More

The unique controversial management style of Steve Jobs helps translate his business acumen into smart product development.

Dan Rochefort

2020-03-26 10:31:00 Thursday ET

The unique controversial management style of Steve Jobs helps translate his business acumen into smart product development.

The unique controversial management style of Steve Jobs helps translate his business acumen into smart product development. Jay Elliot (2012) Leading

+See More

MIT financial economist Simon Johnson rethinks capitalism with better key market incentives.

Daisy Harvey

2019-11-23 08:33:00 Saturday ET

MIT financial economist Simon Johnson rethinks capitalism with better key market incentives.

MIT financial economist Simon Johnson rethinks capitalism with better key market incentives. Johnson refers to the recent Business Roundtable CEO statement

+See More