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

Bank of England publishes its latest insights into the economic impact of Brexit on British real productivity, capital investment, and labor supply.

Olivia London

2018-12-03 10:40:00 Monday ET

Bank of England publishes its latest insights into the economic impact of Brexit on British real productivity, capital investment, and labor supply.

Bank of England publishes its latest insights into the economic impact of Brexit on British real productivity, capital investment, and labor supply as of 20

+See More

President Donald Trump delivers his first state-of-the-union address.

Daphne Basel

2018-01-29 07:38:00 Monday ET

President Donald Trump delivers his first state-of-the-union address.

President Donald Trump delivers his first state-of-the-union address. Several key highlights touch on economic issues from fiscal stimulus and trade protect

+See More

Harvard macrofinance professor Robert Barro sees no good reasons for the recent sudden reversal of U.S. monetary policy normalization.

Laura Hermes

2019-09-09 20:38:00 Monday ET

Harvard macrofinance professor Robert Barro sees no good reasons for the recent sudden reversal of U.S. monetary policy normalization.

Harvard macrofinance professor Robert Barro sees no good reasons for the recent sudden reversal of U.S. monetary policy normalization. As Federal Reserve Ch

+See More

Federal Reserve remains patient on future interest rate adjustments due to trade and fiscal budget negotiations.

Becky Berkman

2019-02-04 07:42:00 Monday ET

Federal Reserve remains patient on future interest rate adjustments due to trade and fiscal budget negotiations.

Federal Reserve remains patient on future interest rate adjustments due to global headwinds and impasses over American trade and fiscal budget negotiations.

+See More

The global pandemic crisis helps reshape international finance, trade, and technology.

James Campbell

2021-02-01 10:19:00 Monday ET

The global pandemic crisis helps reshape international finance, trade, and technology.

In recent times, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the fiscal-debt-to-GDP ratio of most rich economies would rise from 95% in 2018 to 135%

+See More

USPTO fintech patent protection and accreditation

Andy Yeh Alpha

2023-01-03 09:34:00 Tuesday ET

USPTO fintech patent protection and accreditation

  USPTO fintech patent protection and accreditation   As of early-January 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has approved

+See More