Category Archives: New

Jag har stöd för mina beräkningar – Svar till Andersson och Jonung III

[Detta inlägg har publicerats i Dagens Industri.]

Frågan är om Riksbanken genom att åsidosätta inflationsmålet har orsakat att i genomsnitt ungefär 38.000 fler personer har varit arbetslösa under perioden 1997–2011. Man kan tycka att denna fråga är för allvarlig för att, i Lundaspexstil, raljera med och skämta om. Men det gör Fredrik Andersson och Lars Jonung i en debattartikel i Dagens industri den 5 juni. Bland alla försök till skämt finns dessutom bara två påståenden om fakta och data. Båda är osanna.

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Anders Borg about the Fiscal Policy Council evaluating the Riksbank’s monetary policy

[Ekonomistas post, in Swedish.]

In an op-ed in  Dagens Nyheter (English translation here), I argued that the democratic control of the Riksbank should be improved, since the Riksbank had neglected both fulfilling the inflation target and supporting the most important goal of Swedish economic policy, full employment. Among other things, I suggested that the Fiscal Policy Council should get additional resources and an expanded mandate to evaluate monetary policy. It may also be appropriate to move the new Fiscal and Monetary Policy Council to the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. According to Bloomberg Finance Minister Anders Borg has now commented on the issue.  Continue reading →

New demands for amortization, while zero inflation eliminates the automatic amortization

[New Ekonomistas post (in Swedish). Here is an English translation.]

In a speech at the meeting of the Swedish Economic Association (Nationalekonomiska föreningen) on May 28, 2014, Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves suggested a compulsory amortization requirement and showed some calculations for such a requirement that, with a 50-year amortization period, would result in a reduction of a given household loan of 2 percent per year. Strangely enough, he avoided mentioning that the zero inflation Sweden has suffered the last few years, caused by the Riksbank’s leaning against the wind, has eliminated the automatic amortization of 2 percent per year that an inflation rate equal to the target of 2 percent otherwise would have caused.  Continue reading →

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 →

The household debt ratio is an unsuitable risk measure – there are much better ones

New Ekonomistas post (in Swedish). Here is an English translation.

The Riksbank focuses one-sidedly on the debt ratio, household debt relative to disposable income, as a measure of any risks associated with household debt. An example is the Riksbank’s latest Economic Commentary on household debt, which is discussed in this post. But on a closer examination, the debt ratio is an unsuitable risk measure. There are much better ones. And they give a very different picture of the risks associated with household debt.  Continue reading →

The Riksbank’s new study of household debt – misleading conclusions, or deliberate disinformation?

New Ekonomistas post. This is an English translation.

The Riksbank has, in a new Economic Commentary about household debt, presented with a press conference and a speech by executive board member Cecilia Skingsley, announced what seems to be dramatic conclusions and a big news item, which also been much mentioned in the media:

  • The problems associated with debt would be both more extensive and more comprehensive than we have previously realized.
  • Households would in general be highly indebted in relation to their incomes, above all low and middle-income earners.

However, the conclusions do not stand up to scrutiny. It appears that the media and general public have been misled.  Continue reading →

Fed and the Riksbank about low inflation and increased debt burden: A comparison

New Ekonomistas post (in Swedish). Here is an English translation.

Central banks all over the world know that one of the problems with low inflation and deflation is that they increase the debt burden. But this insight seems, strangely enough, to be missing at the Riksbank, at least among the hawkish majority of the executive board. This is apparent when one compares statements of Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves on this issue.  Continue reading →

Svar till Andersson och Jonung I (Reply to Andersson and Jonung I, in Swedish)

Fredrik Andersson och Lars Jonung framför kritik mot min analys av och mina slutsatser om Riksbankens penningpolitik, dels i en artikel i Ekonomisk Debatt 3/2014 (Andersson och Jonung 2014), dels i en intervju av Jonung i Dagens industri 2014-04-17. Här är mitt svar om artikeln. Här finns ett kort svar till intervjun. Här är ett kort svar till deras replik.

Kritiken kan sammanfattas i tre punkter:

(1) I motsats till vad jag hävdat (t.ex. i Svensson 2014), skulle Riksbanken ha uppfyllt inflationsmålet.

(2) Min skattning i Svensson (2013a), av hur mycket högre den genomsnittliga arbetslösheten under 1997-2011 blivit på grund av lägre inflation än målet, skulle inte vara robust. Den skulle bygga på en för enkel modell och bortse från att inflationsförväntningarna har varierat. Mina resultat skulle inte hålla om hänsyn tas till varierande inflationsförväntningar. Mina resultat skulle inte heller hålla om man jämför med andra skattningar av jämviktsarbetslösheten.

(3) Riksbanken skulle ha begränsad möjlighet att genom penningpolitiken påverka sysselsättning och arbetslöshet i en liten öppen ekonomi som den svenska. Riksbanken borde inte ha sysselsättning och arbetslöshet som mål.

Andersson och Jonung tycks dock missta sig på samtliga punkter.      Continue reading →

Misleading statement in interview with Kenneth Rogoff in Svenska Dagbladet

In an interview today, April 16, in Svenska Dagbladet, Kenneth Rogoff is quoted as saying (my translation from Swedish):

“I know that there are commentators, such as Lars EO Svensson, who don’t believe that debt is affected by interest rates.”

It is wrong to say that I would believe that debt is not affected by interest rates. Instead, some of my work has dealt with precisely how monetary policy affects household indebtedness. For instance, this paper deals with how monetary policy affects real debt and the debt-to-GDP ratio.

My view, and the result of the Riksbank’s own calculations (se here and here), is that the impact of monetary policy on household real debt and debt ratios in Sweden is normally very small (and may even be of either sign). The impact on any risks associated with household debt is negligible. Therefore, monetary policy in Sweden should focus on the traditional objectives of monetary policy, namely to stabilize inflation around the inflation target and unemployment around a long-run sustainable rate.

Deflation in Sweden: Questions and answers

New Ekonomistas post (in Swedish). This is an English translation.

Sweden has deflation, that is, negative inflation. According to Statistics Sweden, CPI inflation in March was minus 0.6 percent. As we can see in the figure below, CPI inflation has been around zero since November 2012, and since January 2014 it has been negative. CPIF and HICP inflation i March was zero and minus 0.4 percent, respectively. We see that CPIF and HICP inflation has been on a downward trend since the summer of 2013. The inflation rate in Sweden is now among the lowest in the world. What has caused the deflation, what are its consequences, could Sweden end up in a similar situation as Japan, and what can be done about the problem?

Update October 14: Data trough September 2014 are not looking good. Continue reading →