Inequality
MPs clash with UK chancellor over diversity in central bank
Chair of parliamentary group says she is not convinced “all efforts” are being made to tackle gender unbalance
US income inequality boosted by top 0.01% – research
Income via “pass-through businesses” is a great contributor to top inequality
IMF: global recovery is broad but incomplete
Fund ups its growth forecasts but says many are missing out; Maurice Obstfeld urges policymakers to take action while “times are good”
Senior figures disagree over future of central bank mandates
Independence for central banks has been a success and is vital for carrying out mandate; Otmar Issing says ECB should not act as a substitute for politics
IMF’s Lagarde gives update on women’s empowerment pledges
The fund has teamed up with the UK to provide ‘gender-budgeting’ assistance to countries requesting financial management support
Racial wage gaps in US caused by ‘harder-to-measure’ factors
Lack of opportunity plays bigger role than education and profession in racial inequality, paper finds
Low-income families suffer higher inflation rates, paper finds
The differences in prices occur in the same categories of goods
Kansas City Fed explores sources of wage dispersion in the US
Paper explores relative importance of “lifetime differences” and “match-specific” factors
QE has not increased eurozone inequality - ECB’s Constâncio
Low-income households benefit most from stimulus, ECB vice-president says
Book notes: The Limits of the Market, by Paul de Grauwe
De Grauwe has produced a concise analysis into how markets and governments react with one another; but his lack of familiarity with the history of economic thought is surprising
New York Fed’s Dudley calls for action on rising wage inequality
William Dudley proposes changes in school financing to tackle inequality of opportunity
IMF’s Werner: Latin America must keep debt under control
Western hemisphere chief says there are some concerning signs on debt, although the risk of a systemic crisis is low; region well placed to weather Fed shock
Fed report finds many people left behind by growth
Survey finds nearly a quarter of Americans struggling to pay their bills; problems concentrated in less-educated segments of the population and minority groups
Increasing female participation in workforce will help US growth – Yellen
Fed chair examines barriers women still face when entering the workforce; increasing participation rate could help increase US output by 5%
Income inequality should be a concern for central banks – IMF panel
IMF panel debates impact of unconventional monetary policy on income inequality, concluding institutions should be more aware of policy effects on income disparities despite no specific mandate
Technology driving inequality in advanced economies – IMF
Technology plays “dominant role” in explaining falling labour share of income in advanced economies, study finds; globalisation more important for emerging markets
Women on policy boards support prudent decision-making – research
Paper examines the impact of women on monetary policy decision making; authors’ results reveal the presence of women tends to lead to more “hawkish” decisions
RBA’s Ellis examines the central banking community’s gender problem
RBA makes changes to processing candidate applications to remove unconscious bias, Ellis says; central bank recognises women face challenges when entering economics
Boost technology diffusion to solve productivity puzzle – Haldane
BoE’s chief economist says a “long tail” of low-productivity firms need support as they fall further behind a small frontier group