monetary policy Archives - IREF Europe

The Geography of Central Bank Research

Karl-Friedrich Israel — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:54:19 +0000

Central banks influence economic debate through research and citations. This paper studies whether citation patterns reflect past colonial ties or present currency hierarchies. Using a bibliometric dataset of 334,750 economics…

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Inflation: the worst of all taxes

Karl-Friedrich Israel — Sun, 10 May 2026 15:12:52 +0000

Milton Friedman is often quoted as having said something to the effect that inflation is taxation without legislation on multiple occasions during his career (cf. for example Friedman and Friedman…

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Eurozone: Convergence or Divergence?

Karl-Friedrich Israel — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:40:16 +0000

We revisit the euro’s promise of convergence through a new Divergence Monitor tracking business and financial cycle synchronization since the 1980s. Business cycles became more aligned after 1999, but financial…

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Trumpian Tariffs and Currency Manipulation – New Monetary Policy Power Tools?

Claudia Zeller — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 04:42:47 +0000

Introduction The new USA government is about to introduce fresh elements into developments regarding monetary policy, banking and finance. New tariffs and a ring of security measures will make an…

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China’s loosening of monetary policy is so small it could be missed but it both apes the mistakes of other central banks, and breaks the global agreements it has made with them

Bob Lyddon — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 05:47:27 +0000

Introduction In September, the Chinese authorities announced a package of measures to stop the fall in real estate prices, encourage investment in assets other than real estate, and bolster share…

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July’13 Newsletter: Asset Bubbles Become Policy Bubbles

Gordon Kerr — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 08:26:18 +0000

Leaders, institutions and markets are all looking for guidance to get out of the present crisis. Government confidence is at stake, institutions' credibility is jeopardized and banking is close to fraud and collusion.

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Bailouts, Monetary Policy and Banking: Where Is The European Union Heading?

Sylvain C — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:51:19 +0000

Prof. Enrico Colombatto (Turin), IREF scientific director, has provided his update on EU policies. This month, he describes sovereign bailouts, the probable change of monetary policies, and the repayment of ECB loans.

Domestic. How are the high profile struggling countries faring – Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland?

Despite the January media narrative that the worst of the crisis is over and the bailouts are working, the specific positions of the four countries challenge this position.

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ECB and quantitative easing

IREF — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:22:25 +0000

Will the European Central Bank turn to Quantitative Easing ? This is the question haunting all analysts and governments and, if one were to make a bet, better put it on the YES answer. Yes, the ECB will most probably end up doing just what the FED has been doing for years. The main reasons put forward in support of that policy is that there is no much choice: no one wants to lend to EU states and EU banks any more, not even the Chinese government, and the German economy doesn't have the power to support everyone.

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