Program: Monetary

Central Banks and the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy

| 22 March 2018
Monetary, Discussion Notes | Tags: Central Banks, Environment, Macroprudential Regulation, Quantitative Easing
Climate change is a fundamental challenge for our societies. Containing it will require a profound and radical transformation of our economic system, including a substantial reorientation of investments toward low-carbon technologies. The question to what extent central banks can and should contribute to this effort ... continue reading

How’s Life?

| 22 January 2018
Fiscal, Monetary, Trade, Publications | Tags: Environment, Inequality
In November, the OECD published its most recent report on a short but fundamental question: How’s Life? Income is an important, but not the only factor in determining the answer. The OECD reflects this by going beyond the focus on GDP, that has for long ... continue reading

Climate Change Adds to Risk for Banks, but EU Lending Proposals Will Do More Harm Than Good

and | 17 January 2018
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Climate Change, Financial Stability, Macroprudential Regulation
Climate change is a relevant risk factor for the banking sector, but the European Commission's plan to lower capital requirements for greener investments is irresponsible in encouraging banks to forego proper risk management. ... continue reading

Central Banking and Green Finance

28-29 November, 2017. Co-organized with De Nederlandsche Bank
Monetary, Workshops | Tags: Climate Change, Financial Regulation, Green Finance
When the Leaders of the G20 met in China in 2016 they highlighted the necessity to scale up green financing. They also endorsed efforts to “provide clear strategic policy signals and frameworks” to target this objective. The question to what extent central banks can and ... continue reading

Aggregate and Distributive Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policies

9-10 November, 2017
Monetary, Workshops | Tags: Inequality, Inflation, Interest Rates, QE
Co-organized with the Swiss National Bank and the Study Center Gerzensee ... continue reading

Is It Time To Take Away The Carbon Punch Bowl?

| 5 September 2017
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Climate Change, Financial Stability, Macroprudential Policy
Climate change poses serious financial risks. Perhaps the biggest systemic risk is a disorderly transition to a low carbon economy. As noted in the Bank of England’s ‘response to Climate Change’, current forecasts suggest that to keep global average temperatures below 2 degrees, around two-thirds of ... continue reading

Monetary Policy and the Redistribution Channel

| 28 June 2017
Monetary, Research Papers | Tags: Income Inequality, Inflation, Interest Rates
This paper evaluates the role of redistribution in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy to consumption. Three channels affect aggregate spending when winners and losers have different marginal propensities to consume: an earnings heterogeneity channel from unequal income gains, a Fisher channel from unexpected inflation, ... continue reading

Why Monetary Policy Should Go Green

| 19 May 2017
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Climate Change, Collateral Frameworks, Green Finance, QE
Guest Post, FT Alphaville. Monetary policy is rarely a topic in debates on green finance. It should. The €60bn that the European Central Bank is currently injecting into financial markets on a monthly basis are a case in point. Its intervention amounts to nearly three ... continue reading

Monetary Policy, Macroprudential Regulation and Inequality

| 12 April 2017
Monetary, Discussion Notes | Tags: Inequality, Interest Rates, Macroprudential Policy
The 2008 global financial crisis profoundly changed the role of central banks in the economy. First, central banks engaged in strong expansionary monetary policy, using new unconventional tools to boost economic activity. Second, they were key to containing financial instability, which led them to implement ... continue reading

Inequality Should Matter for Central Banks

and | 16 February 2017
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Central Banks, Inequality, Quantitative Easing
Central bankers have long been discreet about the links between monetary policy and inequality. They justify this reserve by the fact that their mandates do not charge them with addressing inequality and they generally argue that by providing price stability, central banks maintain the existing ... continue reading