Monday, April 14, 2014

Monetary policy and rich and poor



From Reuters:



For poor nations, the easy monetary
policies in advanced economies are leading to big swings in capital
flows that could destabilize emerging markets. For rich countries, the hoarding of currency by developing nations is blocking progress toward a more stable global economy.  Those tensions, which have been brewing for years, seemed to be rising as finance
ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 economies
gathered last week in Washington, as evidenced by harsh words from
Washington and Delhi...



Both
rich and poor say they are acting in their own self interest, and what
makes the conflict so intractable is that both have very rational
arguments.


Even though the G20
agreed the global economy was on better footing, the tensions suggested
little progress ahead in rebalancing the global economy away from a
state where the rich world borrows massively to buy things from the poor
world.


"This is not a healthy place," Raghuram Rajan, governor of India's central bank, told a panel ahead of the G20 meeting.


At an earlier meeting, Rajan was criticized by Bernanke, former Fed chief, for his position.  At the same meeting:

Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve was also
critical of Rajan's position. "We try to pay attention to the effect
that those economies have on our economy and the effect we have on
theirs, but at some point our mandate, our responsibilities, are for the
U.S." 




Much of the tension could be eliminated if fiscal policy were part of the toolbox.  True or false?

1 comment:

  1. Professor Mckinney, could you clarify as to which fiscal policies you are referring and on the part of which nations-- developing or "rich"?

    ReplyDelete