Monthly Archives: October 2018
A skeptical review of the QEs – why they might not be powerful as some thought?
In their working paper "A Skeptical View of the Impact of the Fed's Balance Sheet," economists David Greenlaw, James D. Hamilton, Ethan Harris, and Kenneth D. West challenge some earlier studies that concluded QEs have a significant economic impact. Their major argument is that those research used simple event studies to quantify the impact of QE.
QE: A User’s Guide | #FurtherDiscussed
In a recent policy research, Joseph Gagnon of Peterson Institute for International Economics and Brian Sack of D.E. Shaw Group asked an important question: when the Federal Reserve implement QE in the next crisis, should they use it somewhat differently?
BIS’s latest hunt for Zombie (firms)
In the latest BIS Quarterly Review, researchers Ryan Banerjee and Boris Hofmann consolidated some of the earlier research to illustrate the problem of zombie firms. They argued that the rise of zombies predated the 2008 financial crisis, and has since been dragging down the productivity of the real economy.
Interviews
The effects of Unconventional Exchange Rate and Monetary Policy | Q&A with Joseph Gagnon
The honorable guest for this installment is Joseph E. Gagnon, senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). We discussed one of his latest research paper "Unconventional Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies" and the new book he coauthored with C. Fred Bergsten, "Currency Conflict and Trade Policy: A New Strategy for the United States". Gagnon also shared his view on the very popular "Global Financial Cycle" ideas.
Major Shifts in Macroeconomics Since the Great Recession | Interview with Atif Mian
Atif Mian, co-author of House of Debt, discusses what he thinks are the "revolutionary" changes in macroeconomic academia since the Great Recession.
Economics Rules – Why Economists do it with Models | Q&A with Dani Rodrik
Rodrik explained why good economists think in terms of models, and what are major differences between models and theory.
He also told us why macroeconomists' quest to find "the one true model" on the business cycle is probably misguided.
Why Yellen should have stayed as Fed Governor? | Interview with Conti-Brown
Peter Conti-Brown, author of one of the best book about the institution of Fed, "The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve", explains what Jay Powell's nomination means to the Fed independence and why Janet Yellen should have stay as governor after his Chair term ended.