Author Archives: Tony Yates

This morning [4/12] on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, George Osborne lashed out at the BBC’s coverage of the budget labelling it ‘hyperbolic’. This is a pretty low tactic, and also substantively wrong.  All the BBC were doing is pointing … Continue reading →

Last night I caught AC’s Radio 4 program on teaching economics after the financial crisis.  It’s a great story, well told.  But, it is just that.  In its totality, a distorting dramatisation, on account of allowing multiple silly, uninformed critiques … Continue reading →

Dear Ed and George. Today, on the Andrew Marr show, the debate between you on public finances and macroeconomic policy seemed to reach new lows. 1.  The focal point of today was the part-leak-part-preannouncement of policy.  Surely better for all … Continue reading →

In 2002 I was seconded at the ECB, and tasked – with another, from the research department – with writing a note to the Governing Council on oil prices and monetary policy.  If I remember correctly, in the 3 months … Continue reading →

A quick and incomplete response to Buiter’s note for Citi [which is a great read], quoted extensively in FTAlphaville today. Buiter compares the properties and usefulness of government fiat currency, and other intrinsically worthless assets like Gold and Bitcoin. He … Continue reading →

A thought-provoking post from Toby Nangle on this topic raises some difficult questions that go to the heart of monetary economics and policy, and take in important practical questions like what are official statistics for. In his post, Toby recaps … Continue reading →

This morning the Treasury Committee, the cross-party Parliamentary body charged with scrutinising the activities of the Bank, held a hearing on the Bank of England’s November Inflation Report.  It seemed like an anti-climax.  Lots to talk and grill the BoE about, … Continue reading →