Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead
by Kenneth Rogoff · 27 Feb 2025 · 330pp · 127,791 words
dollar will continue to effectively rule Asia. As already noted, if China were to fully decouple from the dollar and move to a more conventional inflation-targeting regime, the ramifications could be far reaching. As the world’s second-most-important economy—and for many countries, the most important destination for exports
…
. We argued that fixed exchange rates are sustainable only in rare circumstances and that most countries should instead adopt a flexible exchange rate regime with inflation targeting. We emphasized that this would be much more effective if coupled with central bank independence. Thus, the Brookings panel discussion around Dornbusch and Werner’s
…
no peg, how to anchor inflation? Following the example of several advanced economies, most notably including New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Fraga instituted inflation targeting, whereby, very crudely put, the central bank sets forth targets for the path of inflation and adjusts its short-term policy interest rates as needed
…
keep inflation on track. This had not previously been done in emerging markets; Mexico’s central bank, under Guillermo Ortiz, instituted its own version of inflation targeting a couple of years later, in 2001. What made Fraga’s move so astounding was that central bank independence is normally a key institutional requirement
…
for inflation targeting to succeed. Without independence, the central bank will constantly be forced to succumb to political influence—for example, inflationary finance, where the central bank prints
…
money to soak up government debt, without worrying about the effect on inflation. Fraga managed to use inflation targeting as a mechanism to assert de facto central bank independence, even though there was no legislation to that effect. President Cardoso’s strong public support
…
first step out of an extremely difficult situation. Without the intermediate exchange rate stabilization phase, it would have been well-nigh impossible for Fraga’s inflation-targeting regime to have taken root. In this sense, Columbia’s Jeffery Sachs (whose recommendation of fixed rates was mentioned in chapter 12), and my students
…
legacy of recurrent very high inflation is one that Brazilians have not yet entirely forgotten. Many macroeconomists have the idea that if a country introduces inflation targeting, the problem is permanently solved. As I shall argue in the last part of this book, this view is quite naive, even for a country
…
Ministry of Finance, both legally—for example, through an amendment to the Bank of Japan Act in 1997—and operationally, through the formal adoption of inflation targeting in 2013.8 The Bank of Korea followed a similar path, and other Asian central banks were also gradually given more resources over time, which
…
emphasized earlier, many central banks—including in countries that follow the Tokyo consensus—officially say they are inflation targeters but in fact give a very large weight to exchange rate stabilization, far above and beyond what inflation targeting would call for. Finally, a word about artificial intelligence and how it might affect pressures on
…
, 232, 322 n.9 Buenos Aires Consensus, 155 currency reserves of, 156 default by, 233 financial crisis (1999), 118, 139, 140–44 hyperinflation in, 127 inflation targeting in, 142–43 real, 140 Real Plan (1994), 140, 144 Bretton Woods system, 4, 45, 118, 119, 174, 213, 226, 282 Brezhnev, Leonid (Premier, Soviet
…
in Europe, 45–46, 120 in Germany, 120 interest rates and, 166, 248, 252, 275–76 in U. S., 46, 119, 253. See also hyperinflation inflation targeting, 142–43, 158 infrastructure: in China, 66–67, 87, 98–99, 105–6 return on investment, 106 insurance, deposit, 49, 241–43 interest rates, x
Failed State: The Sunday Times Bestselling Investigation Into Why Britain Is Struggling
by Sam Freedman · 10 Jul 2024 · 368pp · 101,133 words
than any of his predecessors, but also managed to find, largely by luck, the route to this macroeconomic stability. He did this by setting an inflation target – initially a range of 1–4 per cent – and working more transparently with the Bank of England to adjust interest rates to keep in that
The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking and the Future of the Global Economy
by Mervyn King · 3 Mar 2016 · 464pp · 139,088 words
economic ideas. My time at the Bank of England showed that ideas, for good or ill, do influence governments and their policies. The adoption of inflation targeting in the early 1990s and the granting of independence to the Bank of England in 1997 are prime examples. Economists brought intellectual rigour to economic
…
better. The first was to give central banks much greater independence in order to bring down and stabilise inflation, subsequently enshrined in the policy of inflation targeting – the goal of national price stability. The second was to allow capital to move freely between countries and encourage a shift to fixed exchange rates
…
a period between about 1990 and 2007 of unprecedented stability of both output and inflation – the Great Stability. Monetary policy around the world changed radically. Inflation targeting and central bank independence spread to more than thirty countries. And there were significant changes in the dynamics of inflation, which on average became markedly
…
of independent central banks, with a clear mandate to maintain the value of the currency in terms of a representative basket of goods and services (inflation targeting), proved successful in stabilising inflation in the 1990s and early 2000s during the Great Stability. The conquering of inflation across the industrialised world over the
…
to overcome a sudden panic, gold cannot play that role. The evolution of a framework for the issue of paper money, culminating in the 1990s inflation-targeting regime, showed signs of success. But it is still too early to judge whether democratic societies have managed to create sustainable regimes to manage paper
…
to carry out. They correspond to the twin objectives of price stability and the provision of liquidity by a ‘lender of last resort’. Price stability – inflation targeting as a coping strategy Eighteenth-century thinkers, such as David Hume and Adam Smith, understood the relationship between the amount of money in circulation and
…
it is sensible, indeed unavoidable, to grant the central bank a degree of discretion in responding to unfolding events. This is the basic idea behind inflation targeting, which originated in New Zealand in 1990. The idea soon spread to Canada in 1991 and the United Kingdom in 1992. The aim was to
…
to year, but to reduce the degree of uncertainty over the price level in the long run. People will then stop worrying about inflation. An inflation-targeting monetary policy is a combination of two elements: (a) a target for inflation in the medium term and (b) a response to economic shocks in
…
a Fed-style dual mandate and a central bank with a single mandate to meet an inflation target. What is crucial is that households and businesses believe that prices will be stable in the long run. Inflation targeting has been highly successful, both in its primary aim and as a way of ensuring the
…
for inflation, and a second was the establishment of a regime under which central banks could be held accountable for their decisions. From the outset, inflation targeting was conceived as a means by which central banks could improve the credibility and predictability of monetary policy. Since its adoption in New Zealand, Canada
…
and the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, inflation targeting has spread to more than thirty countries around the world.22 The big central banks now all have an inflation target of 2 per cent, with the Federal Reserve adopting it in 2012 and the Bank of
…
. Inflation targeting is about making and communicating decisions. It is not a new theory of how money and interest rates affect the economy. But, by anchoring inflation
…
There are, however, deeper reasons to ask why central banks should worry only about consumer price inflation rather than the state of the real economy. Inflation targeting is designed to mimic the behaviour of a competitive market economy, one that exhibits none of the nominal or expectational rigidities that prevent prices from
…
reduced the severity of the crisis by following a different monetary policy, and consider what they should do today. Related concerns about the desirability of inflation targeting have been raised by those who believe that central banks should focus at least as much on ‘financial stability’ as on ‘price stability’, meaning that
…
of central banks has been to put this industry out of business and to move to a world of simple, clear language. The advent of inflation targeting saw a move from the old central banking tradition of mystery and mystique to openness and transparency. The old world was illustrated by Lord Cunliffe
…
is no good alternating between binge and starvation, boom and bust. It is necessary to follow a few principles consistently and in a sustained manner. Inflation targeting represented a healthy way of living for central banks charged with the task of ensuring monetary stability.33 Accountability and transparency provide the incentives for
…
dangerous thing to start to give reasons’.34 An event in 2007 illustrates the change in the way in which monetary policy was conducted after inflation targeting was introduced and independence was granted to the Bank of England. At 12 noon on Thursday 10 May, Tony Blair announced his resignation as Prime
…
crisis, central banking seemed rather simple. There was a single objective – price stability – and a successful framework within which to make decisions on interest rates – inflation targeting. It seemed a successful coping strategy. Communication became more important, and central banks moved from mystery and mystique to transparency and openness. During the crisis
…
above or below target for a period in order to restore a sustainable path for the economy. It would be a big mistake to jettison inflation targeting altogether. It is a valuable heuristic for central banks, provided there is room to deviate when circumstances demand. The crisis also brought home the importance
…
that are leading to an unsustainable path for the economy. In my view, this is the most important challenge for monetary policy, and especially to inflation targeting, in the future. For such an approach to be feasible, a central bank must not only be confident of identifying the mistakes that have led
…
for future nominal interest rates. 21 The bill was introduced into the House on 8 July 2014. 22 For a discussion of the achievements of inflation targeting in reducing the level and volatility of inflation see King (2012). 23 The general confession in the Book of Common Prayer is ‘We have left
…
a result, call QE credit easing. 31 Bernanke (2014). 32 Woodford (2013). 33 In tribute to the successful French Montignac diet, I like to call inflation targeting the monetary equivalent – Montignac monetarism. 34 Evidence by Sir Ernest Harvey to the Macmillan Committee in 1930. 35 Bernanke (2014). 36 Thornton (1802), p. 145
…
England website. —— (2009), Speech to the CBI Dinner, Nottingham, at the East Midlands Conference Centre, 20 January, Bank of England website. —— (2012), ‘Twenty Years of Inflation Targeting’, Stamp Memorial Lecture, London School of Economics, 9 October, Bank of England website. King, Mervyn and David Low (2014), ‘Measuring the “World” Real Interest Rate
…
2010. —— (2014), The Shifts and the Shocks, Penguin, London. Woodford, Michael (2003), Interest and Prices, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. —— (2013), ‘Forward Guidance by Inflation-Targeting Central Banks’, mimeo, Columbia University. Woollcott, Alexander (1934), While Rome Burns, Viking Press, New York. Yermack, David (2013), ‘Is Bitcoin a Real Currency?’, National Bureau
…
–6, 178; granting of independence to (1997), 7, 166, 186; history of, 92, 94, 156–7, 159, 160, 180–1, 186, 188–201, 206, 335; inflation targeting policy, 7, 167, 170, 322; Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), 173, 329–31; as Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, 75; weather vane on roof, 181 bank
…
, 167, 171, 304; in Saddam’s Iraq, 238–9; in sixteenth century, 57; ‘stagflation’ (1970s), 5, 302–3, 318; wage and price controls (1970s), 307 inflation targeting policy, 164, 169–70, 172, 177–8, 186, 247, 315, 322, 329, 330; adoption of (early 1990s), 7, 77, 167; current targets, 70, 170; and
…
, 132 unemployment, 38, 292, 293, 294, 297–9, 302, 326–7, 329, 330; in euro area, 45, 226, 228, 229–30, 232, 234, 345; and inflation targeting, 168, 169; and interest rates, 169, 298–300; ‘stagflation’ (1970s), 5, 302–3, 318 United Kingdom: Acts of Union (1707), 215; alternative strategies for pre
India's Long Road
by Vijay Joshi · 21 Feb 2017
, when the chips are down, the buck always stops with monetary policy in the fight against inflation. Does this mean that India should adopt ‘flexible inflation targeting’, as recommended by the landmark Report of the Monetary Framework Committee (chaired by Urjit Patel) in 2014?30 I am in favour of such a
…
step. Inflation targeting would be a helpful, even a necessary (though by no means sufficient), move to keep inflation within acceptable limits. The Appendix to this chapter surveys
…
briefly the debate on inflation targeting. T h e R e q u i s i t e s of M a c r o e c o n o mic
…
. The hand of the RBI was strengthened by its agreement with the Finance Ministry in February 2015 that in effect ushered in a regime of inflation targeting. The inflation target was agreed to be 6 per cent for January 2016 and 4 per cent (with a band of +/ –2 per cent) for 2016/17
…
and thereafter.32 Other attributes generally associated with inflation targeting, such as the formation of a ‘monetary policy committee’ to make interest rate decisions, have yet to happen. (Until then, interest rate policy is in
…
SLR could not be reduced without reducing government borrowing, i.e. the fiscal deficit. The point to note here is that the smooth operation of inflation targeting depends on improving the transmission mechanism for monetary policy. [ 152 ] Stability and Inclusion 153 Overall, the performance on the inflation front has been commendable. What
…
c r o e c o n o mic S ta b i l i t y [ 165 ] 166 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 8 Inflation Targeting In this chapter, I have espoused the adoption of ‘flexible inflation targeting’ (FIT) in India. This appendix contains a brief discussion of the relevant issues. The core rationale of
…
inflation targeting is that there is no long-run growth benefit from inflation above a threshold rate. Many research studies have shown that in India this threshold
…
reason that inflation targeting should be ‘flexible’ in the sense that the speed of approach to the inflation target should be left to the discretion (within limits) of a ‘monetary policy committee’ that oversees inflation targeting, acting via the RBI. This would enable the RBI to reduce
…
in India. It is indeed true that if the government were profligate and regularly forced the central bank to print money to finance its deficits, inflation targeting would not work. But such an extreme scenario does not represent Indian reality. Direct monetary financing of deficits does not exist in India. It is
…
of them are significant enough to make monetary policy powerless, and they should and could be reformed while the inflation targeting regime is in operation. They are not reasons to give up on inflation targeting but reasons to improve its functioning by eliminating the distortions. As regards the fiscal deficit, if it were too
…
, inflation targeting may reinforce the pressure to end it. The third objection to FIT is that it would be inconsistent with exchange rate management, which may be
…
-term interest rate were the only monetary policy instrument, it could not achieve both an inflation target and an exchange rate target; so, if there is an inflation target, the exchange rate would have to float cleanly. But an inflation targeting regime for India would not be faced with this dilemma, if it retained sterilized intervention
…
e c o n o mic S ta b i l i t y [ 167 ] 168 weapons of monetary policy. With these two additional instruments, inflation targeting would be compatible with managed floating. The fourth objection to FIT is that it ignores financial stability (e.g. prevention of asset price bubbles), which
…
to pursue a soft monetary policy in an environment of growing indexation and rampant inflationary expectations.) To keep inflation in check, India should adopt ‘flexible inflation targeting’, along with its usual supporting institutions. In W h at I s t o B e D o n e ? W h at Li e
…
the exchange rate regime. India should continue with the tried and tested regime of ‘managed floating’ of the exchange rate. Contrary to some purist views, inflation targeting and a managed float of the exchange rate are not incompatible, if they are supported by some focused capital controls and occasional foreign exchange intervention
…
the long-term policy framework for macro- stability? On internal balance, one of the Modi government’s good decisions was to adopt a regime of ‘inflation targeting’. Of course, the ground had been prepared by the publication of the landmark Urjit Patel committee report in early 2014. The Modi government took the
…
yet undecided.11 While inflation targeting is definitely a step forward in macro-management, its efficacy could be considerably improved by reforms in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. As of
…
needed to prevent inflation taking off as a result of the change in relative prices that would be caused by subsidy removal. A regime of ‘inflation targeting’ obviously helps. Thirdly, the sequencing of the wind-up of subsidies would have to be worked out carefully and coordinated across central and state governments
…
Overall, the Modi government’s economic performance has been mixed at best. It has successfully stabilized the economy and moved firmly in the direction of inflation targeting. But it has not been able so far to re-ignite private investment in the face of the inherited debt overhang, and thereby return the
…
of 1999–2004 may like to see Ghatak, Ghosh, and Kotwal (2014) and Nayar (2015). 5. For background to this section, see Chapter 8. 6. Inflation targeting should be ‘flexible’, giving the central bank leeway in the length of time it takes to hit the target, depending on the state of the
…
Minister announced in the budget for 2016/17 that the government would proceed to amend the RBI Act to give a statutory basis to the inflation targeting regime, including the appointment of a monetary policy committee. It is obviously important that the independence of the monetary policy committee should be closely guarded
Money and Government: The Past and Future of Economics
by Robert Skidelsky · 13 Nov 2018
easy to follow the rules? Exactly the same question would arise in the Great Moderation years of the 1990s and 2000s: was it central bank inflation-targeting which kept inflation low, or was it what the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King described as a ‘nice’ environment? 53 H i
…
message was clear: he who would control money has to control expectations about future prices. This, as we shall see, was the rationale for the inflation targeting adopted in the 1990s. Like his predecessors, Fisher and Wicksell, Keynes encountered the problem of the gold standard. Bank Rate could be used to stabilize
…
n e s The policy failures of monetarism led the Fed and the Bank of England to abandon the attempt directly to control monetary aggregates. Inflation targeting became the default position. Its great advantage was that it bypassed the interminable debates about whether money was exogenous or endogenous, whether one should try
…
behaviours to provide consistent signals to markets. (This became standard practice until 2012, when it adopted an explicit inflation target under Ben Bernanke.)37 The European Central Bank, established in 1997, was also given an inflation target, to be achieved by varying short-term interest rates. In Britain, targeting of money was discontinued in
…
the 1970s and nearly 6 per cent a year in the 1980s. The inflation record improved dramatically when inflation targeting was announced in 1992. The same pattern was seen the world over. Was it inflation targeting that ‘conquered’ inflation? Much depends on the weight one attaches to the fluctuating price of energy over the
…
period 1973 to 1983. Figure 16. UK monetary policy and inflation38 30% 25% (RPI up to 1987, CPI from 1988) Bretton Woods Money Targeting Inflation Targeting DM3 20% ERM 15% 10% 5% RPIX CPI 300 250 06 04 02 08 20 20 20 20 98 96 94 00 20 19 19
…
chief instrument in the central banks’ tool kit. Simon Wren Lewis put a New Keynesian gloss on this policy procedure, arguing that ‘implicit or explicit inflation targeting by independent central banks . . . reflected an understanding of the importance of rational expectations. If a central bank had a clear inflation objective, and established a
…
should rise. The framework of policy was Wicksellian rather than Friedmanite: bank rate should be set to achieve the target rate of inflation. But ‘flexible inflation targeting’ incorporated the New Keynesian feature of allowing for (small) shocks to Wicksell’s ‘natural’ rate. The policy framework also emphasized the importance of policy rules
…
would indicate a shortage of demand relative to supply. Targeting the inflation rate was thus a way of balancing aggregate demand and supply, with the inflation target replacing the Keynesian full employment target. This reflected Milton Friedman’s view that unemployment would normally be at its ‘natural’ rate if prices were kept
…
, E. (1935), Comments. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 50 (1), pp. 185–92. 438 Bi bl io g r a p h y Hammond, G. (2009), Inflation Targeting in the UK: Bank of England presentation at the Banco Central do Brasil. Available at: http://www.bcb.gov. br/pec/depep/seminarios/2009_xisemanualmetasinflbcb
…
), Global imbalances: the perspective of the Bank of England. Banque de France Financial Stability Review, 15, pp. 73–80. King, M. (2012), Twenty Years of Inflation Targeting. Available at: http:// www.bis.org/review/r121010f.pdf [Accessed 10 July 2017]. King, M. (2016), The End of Alchemy. London: Little, Brown. Kingsley, P
…
(1694), 42–3, 80 given ‘operational independence’ (1998), 249, 272–3 imposes ‘Corset’ (1973), 168 inflation targeting, 188, 189, 249–53 and ‘law of reflux’, 46 as ‘lender of last resort’, 50, 249 ‘loss function’ for inflation target, 252 macroeconomic model (2004–10), 233, 310, 310–11 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), 249, 254, 265
…
, 254, 261–2, 276 and broad money monetarism, 186 in Cunliffe’s model, 54, 54–5, 102, 145 after First World War, 101–2 and inflation targeting, 188, 249, 251, 252, 358–9 and Keynes, 101, 102, 115, 166, 255* and managed gold standard, 71 in pre-crash USA, 340 and Radcliffe
…
‘dual mandate’ proposal, 358 during Great Moderation, 215, 252–3, 310, 359, 360 independent, 1, 32, 43, 129, 140, 188, 198, 215, 249, 272–3 inflation targeting, 2, 101, 188–9, 189, 196, 215, 249–53, 347, 358 in Keynesian economics, 101, 102–4, 105, 115–16 need for revived regulatory tools
…
, US and 2008 crash, 50, 217, 254, 256 AIG bail-out (2008), 325 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), 185–6 and Great Depression, 104–6 inflation targeting, 188 and monetarism, 185–6, 188 monetary policy in 1950s, 146 ‘Operation Twist’, 268 quantitative easing (QE) by, 256–7, 273–4 ‘Reserve Position Doctrine
…
Moderation, 106, 215, 216, 252–3, 253, 348, 359, 360 hyperinflation of early 1920s, 100, 275 increases in late 1960s, 152, 153, 154, 163, 164 inflation targeting, 2, 101, 188–9, 189, 196, 215, 249–53, 347, 358 ‘inflation tax’, 28, 64–5 and interest rates, 101–2, 359 Keynes–Cannan debates
…
New Classical economics and 2008 collapse, 2–3, 5 DSGE modelling, 196, 211–12 and erroneous austerity arguments, 232–4 and growth in inequality, 4 inflation targeting, 2 and microeconomics of Walras, 10 ‘natural’ rate of unemployment, 2, 195, 197, 208, 232–3 New Classical economics – (c0nt.) and neo-liberal capture of
…
, 212 ‘Washington consensus’, 198 484 i n de x New Keynesianism, 195–7, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 358 Brown constitution, 221–3, 227 and inflation targeting, 196, 251 ‘new stagnation’ theorists, 151 New Zealand, 188 Newton, Isaac, 42, 43, 47–8 Nielsen, Robert, 389 Niemeyer, Sir Otto, 108 Nixon, Richard, 153
Birth of the Euro
by Otmar Issing · 20 Oct 2008 · 276pp · 82,603 words
the questions and my answers: Question 8: Would you support the ECB being held accountable for realizing an explicit inflation target and over what time period? To what extent could a mixed targeting strategy (inflation target ⫹ money supply target) be defined and evaluated? The ECB is definitely accountable for the target of price stability
…
my invitation and made themselves available for seminars on relevant topics. For instance, we were able to discuss the whole spectrum of issues relating to inflation targeting with one of its proponents, Mervyn King, from the design stage to the problems which arise in practice, including that of communication. Alongside monetary policy
…
not to spring a surprise and pursue an expansionary policy, which it might have been tempted to do. On how discretionary monetary policy compares with inflation targeting regimes, see, for example, V. V. Chari and P. J. Kehoe, ‘Modern macroeconomics in practice: how theory is shaping policy’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20
…
rule can provide indications as to the current stance of monetary policy and to that extent act as a kind of guide.45 Why not inflation targeting? In the course of the preparatory work undertaken by the EMI, the experts had ruled out an exchange rate strategy for the ECB. A central
…
euro area was much too large to be made dependent on another currency. That left, as it were, only two strategy options: monetary targeting and inflation targeting. At the time the discussion was taking place, the latter strategy already enjoyed a lot of support among academic economists, and could point to extremely
…
successful practical models, in particular the policy pursued by two proponents, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Bank of England. Inflation targeting was well on the way to becoming the ‘state of the art’ in central bank policy-making.46 What could have been more obvious than
…
these central banks and the urging of leading economists? There are persuasive reasons why the ECB at the time chose a different course. Put simply, inflation targeting can be understood as a strategy with the following main elements: 45 46 See O. Issing, V. Gaspar, I. Angeloni and O. Tristani, Monetary Policy
…
subject. For a good overview, see B. S. Bernanke, T. Laubach, F. S. Mishkin and A. S. Posen, Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience (Princeton, 1999); B. S. Bernanke and M. Woodford (eds.), Inflation Targeting (Chicago and London, 2004). Monetary policy options • 91 1. The central bank announces a numerical target (point target
…
, also play an important role in this framework. Clearly, the success of this strategy depends crucially on the quality and reliability of the inflation forecast. ‘Inflation targeting’ is actually ‘inflation forecast targeting’. Because of the uncertainty (over data and structure) analysed above, however, the ECB had every reason to exercise the greatest
…
.49 It also remained largely unclear which of the available models provided the closest approximation to reality. In other words, inflation targeting did not offer anywhere 47 48 49 In the original inflation targeting model, both the inflation forecast horizon and the target horizon were fixed. Meanwhile, the forecast horizon has in many cases
…
have had many in-depth discussions, and also quarrels, on the subject, not least with Lars Svensson. I do not deny that the idea of inflation targeting has been handled flexibly in practice from the start, and that the theory has undergone refinement over time. But in fact, these developments in the
…
concept of inflation targeting, and not least the increasing emphasis on ‘judgement’ (see footnote 50), represent elements that have been taken into account in the ECB’s strategy from
…
and criticisms notwithstanding, I have learnt a great deal from the discussions on the subject. Significantly, in all the conversations I had with proponents of inflation targeting, I never received an answer to my question of how the data problem in the forecast could be satisfactorily overcome. Regarding the scale of the
…
in light of the particular uncertainty facing the ECB. Given these criticisms, the linkage between the forecast and the monetary policy response becomes less clear: inflation targeting becomes extremely complex, the ‘charm’ of its seeming simplicity is lost, and communication becomes correspondingly difficult. Nothing exemplifies this better than the fact that, over
…
time, it has been conceded that inflation targeting requires ‘judgement’.50 These considerations argued against an inflation-targeting strategy for the ECB. This certainly does not mean, however, that the ECB rejects inflation targeting lock, stock and barrel – quite the reverse.51 As will be shown in the
…
next chapter, the strategy adopted by the ECB shares important elements with inflation targeting. Chief among them are the priority accorded to price stability, underscored by quantification of the target, and the importance of transparency. The ECB also uses
…
. They are only one input – albeit an important one – in the assessment of the future evolution of prices. Alongside these objections, one fundamental shortcoming of inflation targeting was a decisive factor in our decision, namely the fact that it completely ignores the relationship – borne out by overwhelming empirical evidence – between the growth
…
of the money 50 51 Compare, as but one example, the two papers by the eminent proponent L. E. O. Svensson: ‘Inflation targeting as a monetary policy rule’, Journal of Monetary Economics, 43 (1999); ‘Monetary policy with judgement forecast targeting’, UCB, International Journal of Central Banking, 1:1
…
(2005). If one restricts the definition of inflation targeting to the common elements, then one could also call the ECB an inflation targeter. See O. Issing, ‘Inflation targeting: a view from the ECB’, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, 86 (2004). Monetary policy options
…
• 93 supply and inflation. The econometric models commonly used for inflation targeting are essentially models of the real economy, and thus do not assume any independent influence of monetary growth on price developments. This bears out the
…
rely for their assessment of current conditions and future inflation solely on models that completely disregard this important relationship between money and prices. In an inflation-targeting framework it is moreover almost impossible to take adequate account of developments in asset prices. It was for all these reasons that the ECB rejected
…
the option of an inflation-targeting strategy.52 Deciding against a monetary target So, should the ECB not have opted for the second strategy considered by the EMI and adopted a
…
), Reinhard Schmidt (Frankfurt University) et al., European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (ESFRC). Other speakers included Lars E. O. Svensson (Institute for International Economic Studies) on ‘Inflation Targeting’, John Taylor (Stanford University) on ‘Interest Rate Rules’, Stefan Gerlach (Bank for International Settlements, BIS), Ignazio Visco (OECD) and Thomas Mayer (Goldman Sachs). The ‘Watchers
…
, 213 high 143–6 long-term in euro area 144 fig. 11 low-level 100–3 well-anchored 66, 87, 117, 140–1, 145–6 inflation targeting 30, 85, 90–3, 103 insolvency, of sovereign states 194, 196 interest rates at beginning of monetary union 138–41 criterion for admission to EMU
The Shifts and the Shocks: What We've Learned--And Have Still to Learn--From the Financial Crisis
by Martin Wolf · 24 Nov 2015 · 524pp · 143,993 words
of ‘moral hazard’, and the responsibilities of governments in handling crises. It will also argue that important mistakes were made in understanding the limitations of inflation targeting in managing economies. Yet – Chapter Five will add – the vulnerability to crisis was not due to what happened inside the financial system alone. Underneath it
…
policy to prevent undesired financial risk exposure from building up. Then use active monetary policy to mitigate any harmful effects of a downturn … [A] flexible inflation targeting framework (in conjunction with a cogent prudential policy) accomplishes exactly this goal. It induces a central bank to take the appropriate policy actions in response
…
policy had been used, though it is quite hard to believe that such a policy would have made the difference. In any case, a successful inflation-targeting monetary policy proved entirely compatible with a huge financial crisis and consequent economic instability. Indeed, the complacency it induced in the form of the idea
…
the medium run. It may, however, generate a short-term gain that allows central banks to hit their inflation target more easily. Taken together, these changes in market conditions not only permitted, but encouraged, inflation-targeting central banks to pursue aggressive monetary policies without having to worry much about inflation. Those policies then supported
…
didn’t get too weak.20 In sum, Mr Bernanke offers the following conception of the three roles of the central bank in the economy: inflation targeting (in other words, macroeconomic stabilization); financial oversight; and unlimited crisis intervention. All important central banks now accept these tasks, though the Federal Reserve, with its
…
in different directions. A contemporary descendant is the influential neo-Keynesian, Michael Woodford, of Princeton University, whose work provides support to management of expectations via inflation targeting, in line with contemporary orthodoxy.25 Woodford focuses on Wicksell’s concern with achieving stable inflation. Other descendants include William (Bill) White, former economic adviser
…
money rate of interest has been kept below the natural rate for far too long.29 The latter group of neo-Wicksellians argue, correctly, that inflation targeting, far from stabilizing the economy, may destabilize the financial system and so the economy, in the medium term. Yet, while this diagnosis is persuasive, the
…
put forward a workable solution. The conclusion I draw is that in an environment of rapid credit growth, monetary policy should be tighter than strict inflation targeting would suggest. But monetary policy cannot achieve two targets at once: other instruments will indeed be needed to make the financial system less destabilizing, as
…
, the authors of the Chicago Plan and others in their intellectual tradition pose a profound challenge to the contemporary new orthodoxy that some combination of inflation targeting with skilful macroprudential regulation will allow the world economy to ride the financial tiger in reasonable safety. Unfortunately, while something as radical as the Chicago
…
and 1990s, it failed, since neither defining nor controlling the money supply proved at all easy. This then led to the pre-crisis orthodoxy of inflation targeting by the central banks, which relied on interest rates not quantitative control over money. At the back of policymakers’ minds was the notion of the
…
’ with the ‘Big Bank’ (the central bank) was the only way to contain the consequences of severe instability. While disagreeing, rightly, with the notion that inflation targeting could deliver stability, Minsky would have appreciated the need, stressed by Mr Bernanke, for regulatory watchfulness and with the efforts of the Federal Reserve to
…
whole. So can it work? First, here is some background. The fundamental assumption of orthodox policy, prior to the crisis, was that the combination of inflation targeting with microprudential supervision would deliver stability. Should it, by any chance, fail to do so, it would be better to be ‘clean’ than ‘lean’: it
…
or even turned into outright deflation? There are two responses. The first, proposed by the International Monetary Fund, is that expectations are anchored by the inflation-targeting of central banks.5 The second is that the principal determinant of inflation remains labour costs. But there is very strong resistance to nominal wage
…
(such as election of a ‘Tea Party’ President and Congress in the US), this seems unlikely to change. The new orthodoxy rests on the old inflation-targeting monetary policy, plus more financial regulation and macroprudential supervision (see Chapters Six and Seven). But this approach might well fail. If so, greater radicalism will
…
’s Response to the Financial Crisis’. 20. Ibid. 21. The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate: maximum employment and stable prices. While it currently takes inflation-targeting quite seriously, it is not as obsessed with this one objective as the ECB, which has an overriding objective of ‘price stability’. This is partly
The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire
by Neil Irwin · 4 Apr 2013 · 597pp · 172,130 words
papers on the intersection of finance, economics, and monetary policy, exploring the policy failures that created the Great Depression and emerging as an advocate of “inflation targeting,” or establishing a goal for how much prices should rise and adjusting monetary policy accordingly. But even as he produced outstanding academic work, Bernanke began
…
, 2012, http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2012/speech613.pdf. “Is not the mere existence of general unemployment”: Mervyn King “Twenty Years of Inflation Targeting,” Stamp Memorial Lecture, London School of Economics, October 9, 2012, http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2012/speech606.pdf. IMAGE CREDITS 1: Kungl
The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest
by Edward Chancellor · 15 Aug 2022 · 829pp · 187,394 words
change their flawed models. If low interest rates hadn’t caused the crisis, there would be no problem in taking them even lower in future. INFLATION TARGETING The financial crisis revived the threat of deflation – the kind of debt-deflation identified by Irving Fisher that occurs after credit booms when people, having
…
it a ‘chronic disease’. Deflation was to be kept at bay through the strict enforcement of inflation targeting: price stability was to be achieved at any cost. The 1990s had witnessed the widespread adoption of official inflation targets by central banks. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand was the first central bank to adopt
…
borrowing and other forms of financial risk-taking.fn12 Nor was it clear that inflation-targeting central banks exerted much control over domestic inflation. As globalization advanced, inflation took on a global aspect. When import prices fell, central bankers were required
…
their target in real-time. Another criticism, raised by William White, was that their approach to inflation targeting was asymmetric: their horror of deflation inclined them to overshoot rather than undershoot the target. As a result, monetary policy was systematically biased towards rate
…
thick and thin, central bankers would cling to the sacrosanct target. Their credibility depended on it.52 Never mind that the policies called forth by inflation targeting appeared to be killing economic growth. Never mind that zero interest rates discouraged savings and investment, and impaired productivity growth. Never mind that ultra-low
…
, Luca, ‘The Financial Resource Curse’, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 30 December 2013. Bentham, Jeremy, Defence of Usury [1787] (London, 1816). Bernanke, Ben, ‘A Perspective on Inflation Targeting’, speech at the Annual Washington Policy Conference of the National Association of Business Economists, 25 March 2003. Bernanke, Ben, ‘Asset Price “Bubbles” and Monetary Policy
…
Inflation Targeting’, the Annual Washington Policy Conference of the National Association of Business Economists, 25 March 2003.) 23. This phrase was coined by the Bank of England
…
era, 291; ‘credit easing’ policy, 242; dominion over credit markets, 292–3, 293*; and financialization, 168; founding of (1694), 47; and Gold Standard, 85, 251; inflation targeting, 119, 121, 241; as lender of last resort, 66, 74–6, 80; nationalization (1946), 172; NICE (non-inflationary consistent expansion), 112; in nineteenth-century, 42
…
–16, 118, 128–9; and easy money before 2008 crisis, 111–12, 113, 115–17, 115†, 118–19; evades consequences for 2008 crisis, 119; and inflation targeting, 119, 119*, 241; joins Federal Reserve (2002), 111–12; and legacy of John Law, 61; on monetary policy, 98, 98*, 115, 115*, 131, 155, 207
…
, 260–61; in Great Depression era, 142–3; and Hayek, 296, 298; and inequality, 203–6, 216–17, 237, 299; and inflation, 108, 108*; and inflation targeting, 123; in Japan of 1980s, 105–8; in Japan of 1990s, 100–101, 146, 147; led by finance, 266; and meaning of ‘wealth’, 179–82
…
, 260*, 296; after 2008 crisis, 210, 211; new insecurity, 211, 298 Erdogan, Recep Tyyip, 259 European Central Bank (ECB), 144, 145, 147, 239, 240, 293; inflation targeting, 119, 120, 122–3; and quantitative easing, 146, 241, 242; sets negative rate, 147, 192–3, 244, 299 European Union, 187, 241, 262 Eurozone, 124
…
Standard, 85, 87, 90*; the ‘Greenspan put’, 111, 186; impact on foreign countries, 137, 239, 240–41, 255–6, 259, 262–3, 267–8, 285; inflation targeting, 119, 120, 241; Long Island meeting (1927), 82–3, 88, 92; mandates of, 240, 262; and March 2020 crash, 305–6; Objectives of Monetary Policy
…
–8; good and bad types of, 299; and Hayek, 296, 299; impact of crisis on the 99 per cent, 210–13, 215–17, 237; and inflation targeting, 123; interest as always about justice, 202; Marshall on deflation, 99–100; moral arguments over interest, 17, 201–2; multi-decade decline in from Great
…
, 135; ‘Cantillon effect’, 60*; case against, 108*; and Covid-19 pandemic, 310; global aspect of, 122; Greenspan’s focus on, 110–14; Hayek on, 302; inflation targeting, 119–20, 121–3, 241; and Law’s ‘System’, 56–7, 58, 59–61; and low rates of interest, 42, 43, 56–7, 58, 59
…
; falling savings levels in, 192; first foreign loan (1870), 78; great bubble economy (1980s), xxiii, 105–8, 145, 182, 184, 271, 273, 279, 285–6; inflation targeting in, 119, 122, 241; negative interest rates in, xxi, 29, 122, 224, 225, 242, 244–5; public debt in, 291*; quantitative easing in, 241, 242
…
Perspective’, Mercatus Center, October 2010, p. 5.) fn9 For more on this theme, see Chapter 17. fn10 In a 2003 speech, Bernanke had noted that inflation targeting was seen in the United States as something ‘foreign, impenetrable, and possibly slightly subversive’. Yet in his view, ‘low and stable inflation is a key
…
element – perhaps I should say the key element – of successful monetary policy’ (‘A Perspective on Inflation Targeting’, p. 2). fn11 Legend tells of a Soviet nail factory for which Moscow set quotas: when the quotas involved quantity, the factory churned out small
Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism
by George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller · 1 Jan 2009 · 471pp · 97,152 words
Rate and the Channels of Monetary Transmission.” American Economic Review 82(4):901–21. Bernanke, Ben S., Thomas Laubach, Frederic Mishkin, and Adam Posen. 2001. Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Bernanke, Ben S., Jean Boivin, and Piotor Eliasz. 2005. “Measuring the Effects of Monetary
The Euro and the Battle of Ideas
by Markus K. Brunnermeier, Harold James and Jean-Pierre Landau · 3 Aug 2016 · 586pp · 160,321 words
Money Free and Unfree
by George A. Selgin · 14 Jun 2017 · 454pp · 134,482 words
Expected Returns: An Investor's Guide to Harvesting Market Rewards
by Antti Ilmanen · 4 Apr 2011 · 1,088pp · 228,743 words
The Invisible Hands: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Bubbles, Crashes, and Real Money
by Steven Drobny · 18 Mar 2010 · 537pp · 144,318 words
After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead
by Alan S. Blinder · 24 Jan 2013 · 566pp · 155,428 words
When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence
by Stephen D. King · 17 Jun 2013 · 324pp · 90,253 words
The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy
by Stephanie Kelton · 8 Jun 2020 · 338pp · 104,684 words
Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms: How to Assess True Macroeconomic Risk
by Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak and Paul Swartz · 8 Jul 2024 · 259pp · 89,637 words
The Curse of Cash
by Kenneth S Rogoff · 29 Aug 2016 · 361pp · 97,787 words
A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s
by Alwyn W. Turner · 4 Sep 2013 · 1,013pp · 302,015 words
Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic---And Prevented Economic Disaster
by Nick Timiraos · 1 Mar 2022 · 357pp · 107,984 words
Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis
by Jeanna Smialek · 27 Feb 2023 · 601pp · 135,202 words
Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present
by Jeff Madrick · 11 Jun 2012 · 840pp · 202,245 words
The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival
by Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan · 8 Aug 2020 · 438pp · 84,256 words
The Blockchain Alternative: Rethinking Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Theory
by Kariappa Bheemaiah · 26 Feb 2017 · 492pp · 118,882 words
The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World
by Ruchir Sharma · 5 Jun 2016 · 566pp · 163,322 words
Keeping at It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government
by Paul Volcker and Christine Harper · 30 Oct 2018 · 363pp · 98,024 words
EuroTragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts
by Ashoka Mody · 7 May 2018
The Tyranny of Nostalgia: Half a Century of British Economic Decline
by Russell Jones · 15 Jan 2023 · 463pp · 140,499 words
MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them
by Nouriel Roubini · 17 Oct 2022 · 328pp · 96,678 words
The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future
by Joseph E. Stiglitz · 10 Jun 2012 · 580pp · 168,476 words
In FED We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic
by David Wessel · 3 Aug 2009 · 350pp · 109,220 words
The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance
by Eswar S. Prasad · 27 Sep 2021 · 661pp · 185,701 words
Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People
by Dean Baker and Jared Bernstein · 14 Nov 2013 · 128pp · 35,958 words
The Default Line: The Inside Story of People, Banks and Entire Nations on the Edge
by Faisal Islam · 28 Aug 2013 · 475pp · 155,554 words
Grave New World: The End of Globalization, the Return of History
by Stephen D. King · 22 May 2017 · 354pp · 92,470 words
The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan
by Sebastian Mallaby · 10 Oct 2016 · 1,242pp · 317,903 words
Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State
by Paul Tucker · 21 Apr 2018 · 920pp · 233,102 words
Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Sixth Edition
by Kindleberger, Charles P. and Robert Z., Aliber · 9 Aug 2011
Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity
by Stephen D. King · 14 Jun 2010 · 561pp · 87,892 words
Money: 5,000 Years of Debt and Power
by Michel Aglietta · 23 Oct 2018 · 665pp · 146,542 words
Restarting the Future: How to Fix the Intangible Economy
by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake · 4 Apr 2022 · 338pp · 85,566 words
The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe
by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Alex Hyde-White · 24 Oct 2016 · 515pp · 142,354 words
Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalization
by Harold James · 15 Jan 2023 · 469pp · 137,880 words
The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
by Christopher Leonard · 11 Jan 2022 · 416pp · 124,469 words
The Economists' Hour: How the False Prophets of Free Markets Fractured Our Society
by Binyamin Appelbaum · 4 Sep 2019 · 614pp · 174,226 words
Unfinished Business
by Tamim Bayoumi · 405pp · 109,114 words
Endless Money: The Moral Hazards of Socialism
by William Baker and Addison Wiggin · 2 Nov 2009 · 444pp · 151,136 words
How to Speak Money: What the Money People Say--And What It Really Means
by John Lanchester · 5 Oct 2014 · 261pp · 86,905 words
The Production of Money: How to Break the Power of Banks
by Ann Pettifor · 27 Mar 2017 · 182pp · 53,802 words
The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System
by James Rickards · 7 Apr 2014 · 466pp · 127,728 words
Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles
by Ruchir Sharma · 8 Apr 2012 · 411pp · 114,717 words
Modernising Money: Why Our Monetary System Is Broken and How It Can Be Fixed
by Andrew Jackson (economist) and Ben Dyson (economist) · 15 Nov 2012 · 363pp · 107,817 words
Rewriting the Rules of the European Economy: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity
by Joseph E. Stiglitz · 28 Jan 2020 · 408pp · 108,985 words
Not Working: Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?
by David G. Blanchflower · 12 Apr 2021 · 566pp · 160,453 words
Paper Promises
by Philip Coggan · 1 Dec 2011 · 376pp · 109,092 words
Profiting Without Producing: How Finance Exploits Us All
by Costas Lapavitsas · 14 Aug 2013 · 554pp · 158,687 words
Understanding Asset Allocation: An Intuitive Approach to Maximizing Your Portfolio
by Victor A. Canto · 2 Jan 2005 · 337pp · 89,075 words
What's Next?: Unconventional Wisdom on the Future of the World Economy
by David Hale and Lyric Hughes Hale · 23 May 2011 · 397pp · 112,034 words
The Making of Global Capitalism
by Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin · 8 Oct 2012 · 823pp · 206,070 words
Fed Up: An Insider's Take on Why the Federal Reserve Is Bad for America
by Danielle Dimartino Booth · 14 Feb 2017 · 479pp · 113,510 words
The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
by William R. Easterly · 1 Aug 2002 · 355pp · 63 words
Nine Crises: Fifty Years of Covering the British Economy From Devaluation to Brexit
by William Keegan · 24 Jan 2019 · 309pp · 85,584 words
More: The 10,000-Year Rise of the World Economy
by Philip Coggan · 6 Feb 2020 · 524pp · 155,947 words
Them And Us: Politics, Greed And Inequality - Why We Need A Fair Society
by Will Hutton · 30 Sep 2010 · 543pp · 147,357 words
The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation Is the Key to an Abundant Future
by Jeff Booth · 14 Jan 2020 · 180pp · 55,805 words
Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future
by Paul Mason · 29 Jul 2015 · 378pp · 110,518 words
The Permanent Portfolio
by Craig Rowland and J. M. Lawson · 27 Aug 2012
Panderer to Power
by Frederick Sheehan · 21 Oct 2009 · 435pp · 127,403 words
Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in a Global Market
by Steven Drobny · 31 Mar 2006 · 385pp · 128,358 words
The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive
by Dean Baker · 1 Jan 2011 · 172pp · 54,066 words
Democracy and Prosperity: Reinventing Capitalism Through a Turbulent Century
by Torben Iversen and David Soskice · 5 Feb 2019 · 550pp · 124,073 words
The Asian Financial Crisis 1995–98: Birth of the Age of Debt
by Russell Napier · 19 Jul 2021 · 511pp · 151,359 words
Shutdown: How COVID Shook the World's Economy
by Adam Tooze · 15 Nov 2021 · 561pp · 138,158 words
Stolen: How to Save the World From Financialisation
by Grace Blakeley · 9 Sep 2019 · 263pp · 80,594 words
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
by Thomas Piketty · 10 Mar 2014 · 935pp · 267,358 words
Stocks for the Long Run 5/E: the Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns & Long-Term Investment Strategies
by Jeremy Siegel · 7 Jan 2014 · 517pp · 139,477 words
Where Does Money Come From?: A Guide to the UK Monetary & Banking System
by Josh Ryan-Collins, Tony Greenham, Richard Werner and Andrew Jackson · 14 Apr 2012
Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events
by Robert J. Shiller · 14 Oct 2019 · 611pp · 130,419 words
The End of Indexing: Six Structural Mega-Trends That Threaten Passive Investing
by Niels Jensen · 25 Mar 2018 · 205pp · 55,435 words
The Rise of Carry: The Dangerous Consequences of Volatility Suppression and the New Financial Order of Decaying Growth and Recurring Crisis
by Tim Lee, Jamie Lee and Kevin Coldiron · 13 Dec 2019 · 241pp · 81,805 words
The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification
by Paul Roberts · 1 Sep 2014 · 324pp · 92,805 words
End This Depression Now!
by Paul Krugman · 30 Apr 2012 · 267pp · 71,123 words
Barometer of Fear: An Insider's Account of Rogue Trading and the Greatest Banking Scandal in History
by Alexis Stenfors · 14 May 2017 · 312pp · 93,836 words
Money: The Unauthorized Biography
by Felix Martin · 5 Jun 2013 · 357pp · 110,017 words
The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability, and Avoiding the Next Collapse
by Mohamed A. El-Erian · 26 Jan 2016 · 318pp · 77,223 words
99%: Mass Impoverishment and How We Can End It
by Mark Thomas · 7 Aug 2019 · 286pp · 79,305 words
Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI
by John Cassidy · 12 May 2025 · 774pp · 238,244 words
The New Depression: The Breakdown of the Paper Money Economy
by Richard Duncan · 2 Apr 2012 · 248pp · 57,419 words
The Scandal of Money
by George Gilder · 23 Feb 2016 · 209pp · 53,236 words
Rule Britannia: Brexit and the End of Empire
by Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson · 15 Jan 2019 · 502pp · 128,126 words
Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making for an Unknowable Future
by Mervyn King and John Kay · 5 Mar 2020 · 807pp · 154,435 words
The Great Economists Ten Economists whose thinking changed the way we live-FT Publishing International (2014)
by Phil Thornton · 7 May 2014
Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One
by Meghnad Desai · 15 Feb 2015 · 270pp · 73,485 words
The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It
by Owen Jones · 3 Sep 2014 · 388pp · 125,472 words
Other People's Money: Masters of the Universe or Servants of the People?
by John Kay · 2 Sep 2015 · 478pp · 126,416 words
The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times
by Lionel Barber · 5 Nov 2020
A Little History of Economics
by Niall Kishtainy · 15 Jan 2017 · 272pp · 83,798 words
Alpha Trader
by Brent Donnelly · 11 May 2021
Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil
by Nicholas Shaxson · 20 Mar 2007
Paper Money Collapse: The Folly of Elastic Money and the Coming Monetary Breakdown
by Detlev S. Schlichter · 21 Sep 2011 · 310pp · 90,817 words
Milton Friedman: A Biography
by Lanny Ebenstein · 23 Jan 2007 · 298pp · 95,668 words
When More Is Not Better: Overcoming America's Obsession With Economic Efficiency
by Roger L. Martin · 28 Sep 2020 · 600pp · 72,502 words
Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy
by Dani Rodrik · 8 Oct 2017 · 322pp · 87,181 words
Capitalism: Money, Morals and Markets
by John Plender · 27 Jul 2015 · 355pp · 92,571 words
Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy
by George Gilder · 16 Jul 2018 · 332pp · 93,672 words
Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science
by Dani Rodrik · 12 Oct 2015 · 226pp · 59,080 words
Magic Internet Money: A Book About Bitcoin
by Jesse Berger · 14 Sep 2020 · 108pp · 27,451 words
What's Wrong With Economics: A Primer for the Perplexed
by Robert Skidelsky · 3 Mar 2020 · 290pp · 76,216 words
Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes
by Mark Skousen · 22 Dec 2006 · 330pp · 77,729 words
The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
by Karl Polanyi · 27 Mar 2001 · 495pp · 138,188 words
Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire
by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian · 1 Nov 2012
Who Are We—And Should It Matter in the 21st Century?
by Gary Younge · 27 Jun 2011 · 298pp · 89,287 words
The Trade of Queens
by Charles Stross · 16 Mar 2010 · 348pp · 98,757 words