Economics
Greece’s fiscal situation far worse than US: Atlanta Fed
Atlanta Federal Reserve study says Greece’s fiscal debts more worrisome than the United States’s
IMF: European debt measurements misleading policies
Fund study says European Union spending cuts neglect impact of policies on future
IMF: democracies outpace autocracies following commodity boom
Fund study shows following an international commodity boom, growth tends to increase in emerging market democracies, but decrease in autocracies
Philosopher says financial crisis puts economics profession into disrepute
Philosopher Philip Mirowski says economists’ outdated theories had a large hand in fueling the financial crisis
Boston Fed: Real rigidities dampen exchange rate shocks
Boston Federal Reserve study on price rigidities shows intense price competition leads to weak pass-through effects when there is an exchange rate shock
BoJ: productivity underestimated during expansions
Bank of Japan study into labour productivity revisions shows productivity growth is often underestimated during expansions
IMF: high indebtedness depresses growth
Fund study says higher initial debt levels have negative effect on growth
Asia’s low income countries will outpace other regions
IMF special advisor Min Zhu says Asian low income countries well placed to benefit from region’s boom
India jerks in policy reins to choke off ballooning inflation
Reserve Bank of India levies bigger-than-forecast 50 basis point rate hike as data show inflation has spilled over from food to all areas; higher fuel prices, weather patterns key going forward
PBoC, MAS agree $22 billion currency swap
Arrangement follows similar swaps between China and seven other countries
Tough capital rules will not stunt growth: Bank's Miles
Bank of England rate-setter David Miles roundly dismisses industry argument that harsher capital standards will choke off growth
BoE's Haldane calls for new measure of banks' growth
The “golden era” of finance between early 1990s and 2007 was no productivity miracle as national accounts data and growth accounting suggest
Don’t trust the bloggers on economics: Fed economist
Richmond Federal Reserve’s Kartik Athreya says “extremely low likelihood” that writers who have not taken a year of PhD coursework in a decent economics department can advance the discussion on economics
ECB bond purchase effect wearing off, warns IMF
Fund cautions that stability risks are on the rise again as effect of European Central Bank’s foray into bond markets loses bite; southern eurozone to face refinancing contest with US, UK and Japan
San Francisco Fed: jobs growth policies only temporarily effective
San Francisco Fed study shows recent government policies designed to stimulate employment failed to have any long-lasting effects
Eurozone crisis won’t cripple Israel: Fischer
Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer says eurozone debt crisis and growth slowdown haven’t changed domestic outlook significantly; cites gains to be made from developing clean technology sector
Terms of credit in a competitive market: Philly Fed research
Paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve constructs a model to explain behaviour of lenders and borrowers
Fed’s Duke on fostering a healthy credit environment
Federal Reserve governor says central bank will do everything it can
BIS fearful over fiscal crunch
Bank for International Settlements warns advanced economies that rising debt levels risk hindering long-term performance
BIS proffers history books online
Bank for International Settlements puts back catalogue of Annual Reports online; early reports observe difficulties of war and the importance of fora for central bank collaboration
Professional forecasts lose accuracy over time: Philly Fed
Philadelphia Fed study finds that professional forecasters perform better on shorter timescales
Trichet: economic, not monetary, reform of EMU necessary
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet calls for broader economic reforms to mend Europe’s Economic Monetary Union (EMU)
Cross-border lending extends slump: BIS
Bank for International Settlements says international lending fell by $385 billion in last three months of 2009, figures reveal fifth consecutive quarterly drop