Kate Davidson, “How Some Central Banks Are Reviewed Around the World,” Real Time Economics, The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2015.
Category Archives: Media
Wolodarski: Time for Stefan Ingves to hand over the baton
Peter Wolodarski, “Time for Stefan Ingves to hand over the baton” (“Dags för Stefan Ingves att lämna över stafettpinnen“, in Swedish), editorial in Dagens Nyheter, Februari 15, 2015.
Ekonomiekot: Noll ränta räcker inte
“Noll ränta räcker inte“, Ekonominyheter från Ekot, Sveriges Radio (“Zero interest rate is not enough,” Radio Sweden’s Economy News (in Swedish)), December 30, 2014.
FT: Sweden’s central bank – Stockholm syndrome
The Big Read in Financial Times, November 20, 2014: Sveden’s central bank – Stockholm syndrome
“Sänk räntan till minus” (“Set the policy rate negative”, in Swedish)
Interview in Svenska Dagbladet, November 11, 2014: “Sänk räntan till minus” (“Set the policy rate negative, in Swedish)
“Jonung har helt enkelt fel i praktiskt taget allt han säger”
Interview in Svenska Dagbladet, November 11, 2010: “Jonung har helt enkelt fel i praktiskt taget allt han säger” (“Jonung is simply wrong in practically all he is saying,” in Swedish)
Bloomberg: Central Banker Hero Becomes Face of Failure in Swedish Tale
Bloomberg, October 31, 2014: “Central Banker Hero Becomes Face of Failure in Swedish Tale“
FT: Tactic of ‘leaning against the wind’ has failed Sweden
Editorial in Financial Times, October 30, 2014.
Bloomberg: How Sweden Joined Central Banking’s Hall of Shame
Bloomberg, October 29, 2014: “How Sweden Joined Central Banking’s Hall of Shame.”
Bloomberg interview
New interview in Bloomberg: “Riksbanker who left in protest says untried steps only hope,” October 27, 2014.
The Riksbank cannot maintain financial stability by debating
“Riksbanken kan inte upprätthålla finansiell stabilitet genom att debattera” (in Swedish), 2nd reply to Carl B. Hamilton on di.se, the website of Dagens Industri. Also on Ekonomistas (in Swedish, with links).
Carl B. Hamilton seems to think that the Riksbank by op-eds, analyses and discussions in the new Financial Stability Council has sufficient instruments to affect financial stability to warrant financial stability as an objective. But the Council is only a forum for discussions and cannot make decisions. Since the Riksbank has no decision power over micro- and macroprudential instruments (that power is with Finansinspektionen, the Swedish FSA), the Riksbank cannot be accountable for financial stability and not have financial stability as an objective. Continue reading
The Riksbank and financial stability: No instruments, therefore not an objective
(English translation of an article of mine on the website of the Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri, July 21, 2014.)
Should the Riksbank have financial stability as an objective besides price stability? According to an op-ed by Carl B. Hamilton in Dagens Industri on July 17, the answer is yes.[1] According to Hamilton, this is even a practice already established by the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament). The Riksbank Act needs to be amended, but only as a formality.
But Hamilton forgets that the Riksbank has no effective policy instruments to affect financial stability, except in connection with the management of financial crises. He also forgets that the government with the support of seven parties in the Riksdag – including Folkpartiet (the Liberal Party) – has decided that the Riksbank will not receive any such instruments. Without the instruments, the Riksbank neither can nor should have financial stability as an objective. Continue reading
The Economist on Swedish monetary policy: “Subzero conditions”
The Economist writes about Swedish monetary policy in its latest issue: “Subzero conditions – interest rates are back at crisis lows.”
Improve the democratic control of the Riksbank
[This is an English translation of an op-ed article in Swedish, published in Dagens Nyheter, May 28, 2014. The op-ed is a summary of longer article in Swedish in the journal Ekonomisk debatt.]
Monetary policy in Sweden has failed. The Riksbank’s policy has led to too low inflation and too high unemployment. The reasons for the failure are that the governor has become too powerful, contrary to the original idea of an executive board with six independent members, and that the oversight and control of the Riksbank by the Riksdag has not worked. To remedy these shortcomings, the democratic control of the Riksbank needs to be enhanced and sharpened, the Riksdag’s appointment policy for the executive board needs to be improved, and the responsibilities of the Riksbank and Finansinspektionen for monetary and macroprudential policy needs to be clarified. Continue reading
DN Debatt: Skärp den demokratiska kontrollen av Riksbanken
Penningpolitiken har misslyckats. Riksbankens agerande har lett till för låg inflation och för hög arbetslöshet. Politiken brister på grund av att Riksbankschefen fått för stor makt och Riksdagens uppföljning och kontroll inte fungerar. För att avhjälpa bristerna bör den demokratiska kontrollen av Riksbanken skärpas, Riksbanksfullmäktiges utnämningspolitik förbättras, och ansvarfördelningen mellan penningpolitiken och makrotillsynen klargöras.
Artikel på DN Debatt, “Skärp den demokratiska kontrollen av Riksbanken,” 2014-05-28, mot bakgrund av en utförligare artikel i Ekonomisk debatt nr 4, “Riksbanken, måluppfyllelsen och den demokratiska kontrollen“. Continue reading