Monthly Archives: January 2015

So, ECB QE surprised a little.  60bn per month, not 50.  A re-emphasis of the determination to buy private sector assets too.  Most importantly, stressing that the purchases were open-ended, to be continued until there was a sustained improvement in … Continue reading →

That’s my view, and for a few reasons. First, the impact of macroeconomic policies is partly about how they affect expectations.  The slow, drawn out, reluctant, piecemeal way that the ECB has handled the crisis so far [OMT excepted, that … Continue reading →

One speculation in the blogosphere – for example in Gawyn Davies’ FT blog – is that the peculiar ownership structure of the Swiss National Bank is behind its decision to abandon the exchange rate cap last week. Modern central banks … Continue reading →

Why did the SNB jettison it’s commitment to a minimum exchange rate between francs and euros? One of the stated reasons was that the Franc had weakened against the dollar, so the ‘peg’ could afford to be dropped against the … Continue reading →

I couldn’t resist linking back to this article by Andrew Sentance, arch hawk and ex-MPC member, in the FT.  That was 2012, when, as he wrote, oil was ‘picking up again’, and back to about $125 a barrel.  How do … Continue reading →

That’s what George Osborne’s twitter feed would have you believe.  And it was echoed by Andrew Sentance.  Statements like these are at odds with modern monetary macro, and they are pretty irresponsible. Why irresponsible?  Well, the Chancellor told the Bank … Continue reading →

I’ve been struck by the activities of the Conservative Party Twitter rebuttal machine on economics, ‘Tory Treasury‘ on Twitter, who Danny Blanchflower calls ‘aka Rupert Harrison’.  (He being Osborne’s chief of staff). One theme today was portraying the Labour fiscal … Continue reading →