Paul Volcker
The predicament of bloated central bank balance sheets
Swollen balance sheets carry significant risks for combating inflation, ensuring financial stability and preserving central bank credibility, independence and effectiveness. How can central banks reduce them?
A return of the inflation monster?
There are fears that a shift in intellectual approach towards running economies ‘hot’ could herald a return of the money-eating inflation era
Olli Rehn on AIT, market neutrality and EU fiscal policies
The Bank of Finland governor talks about the ECB’s strategy review, market failure on climate change, lessons from the sovereign debt crisis, and the Draghi legacy effect on Covid-19 responses
Fears rise over breakdown in Basel and IFRS standards
Bretton Woods institutions worried about growing divergence in capital and accounting standards as credit impairment tsunami looms; US and many emerging economies skirting the rules
Lifetime achievement award: Otmar Issing
The architect of the euro’s monetary operating framework is still playing an important role in shaping the debate on monetary policy
2019: The year in review
The past year was marked by a persistent weakening of the global economy, and some radical financial innovations
Tribute to a great man
Peter Bakstansky highlights Paul Volcker’s legacy of probity and integrity
Paul Volcker, 1927–2019
The Fed chair made his name battling inflation, and left his mark on independence and post-crisis financial regulations
Atlanta Fed publishes 1,300-page history of the Fed
Document reveals early concerns Fed creation would lead to politics in banking or banking in politics
Book notes: Economics for the common good, by Jean Tirole
The book should be well received amid the recent rise in populism
Central banking’s 30-year cycle
Central banking has hit another crossroads, writes Central Banking founder Robert Pringle
IMF’s Adrian on the big tech threat and why a ‘non-system’ works
The IMF’s financial counsellor speaks about risks from big tech’s move into fintech, the fund’s efforts to craft well-targeted policy guidance and why the current international monetary ‘non-system’ works
Former Fed chairs stress importance of central bank independence
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised chair Jerome Powell for keeping interest rates too high
‘They could do nothing’: insights into political interference at the Fed
Interviews with former Fed chiefs reveal what it is like to be chair when politicians want their way
Former Fed chairs join over 3,000 economists in call for carbon tax
Economists including central bankers and Nobel laureates demand action on climate change
Book notes: Keeping at it, by Paul Volcker with Christine Harper
Volcker, a man who has made history, delivers a fascinating memoir, providing insights into the key lessons learned during his decades of public service, writes Jean-Claude Trichet
Fed proposes lightening regulations for large banks
Lael Brainard objects to plans, warning they could leave taxpayers “on the hook”
Fed and other US regulators call for major changes to Volcker rule
Complex legislation has created compliance uncertainty, Federal Reserve argues
FOMC members rarely change their preferences – paper
Researchers find policymakers tend to form their preferences early on in life
Book notes: Hole in the Wall, by James Shepherd-Barron
Cash machines have changed the way cash is managed, but is there a future for such machines in a world looking to go cashless?
Stanley Fischer announces October resignation from Fed
Vice-chair to step down in October “for personal reasons”, eight months before scheduled