The road to currency internationalization: Global perspectives and chinese experience

This paper studies international currency use in financial transactions. A currency becomes international when it circulates outside of its issuing country, and advances to vehicle currency status if used by non-residents. With currency information from the SWIFT dataset, we estimate a gravity model to explain the geographical distribution of international currency use. A higher level of economic integration and stable macroeconomic conditions increase the international use of major currencies such as USD and EUR. Merchandise trade and portfolio investment are most helpful in increasing the direct use of currency, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has a stronger effect on promoting vehicle use. Merchandise trade improves the intensity of the global use of the Chinese renminbi (RMB), while FDI increases the number of its users. The policy effect on RMB internationalization is significant only in enhancing the intensity of direct use. Furthermore, the global use of RMB is decreasing by distance, implying that its role is more regional. We recommend outward FDI through the Belt and Road Initiative to further promote RMB internationalization.     

Internationalization of currencies: The case of the US dollar and its challenger euro

This article examines the benefits and costs to the United States of having the US dollar used as an international currency and explains the factors underlying the dollar's use internationally. The main benefit for the United States is that it derives seigniorage from the dollar's international use while the main cost is that there is less scope for controlling domestic monetary conditions. There are three prerequisites for the international use of a currency: (1) confidence in the political stability of the issuing country; (2) deep, broad, and open financial markets in the issuing country; and (3) a large share of world exports on the part of the issuing country. The implications of the euro for the dollar's leading international position are discussed. Data are presented showing that the dollar is the world's leading international currency.     

Liability dollarization and the bank balance sheet channel

Emerging markets' financial institutions often face a mismatch in the currency denominations of their liabilities (foreign currency-denominated debt raised from foreign lenders) and their assets (domestic currency loans to domestic borrowers). We study the effect of this mismatch on monetary policy in a sticky-price, dynamic general-equilibrium small open economy model in which the country default-risk premium depends on domestic banks' balance sheets due to asymmetric information. A fixed exchange rate rule that stabilizes bank balance sheets offers greater stability than does an interest rate rule that targets inflation to offset the real effects of sticky-prices.     

通货膨胀目标制在我国的适用性分析：货币错配的视角

随着经济全球化、金融一体化浪潮的兴起以及金融创新的不断推进,传统的货币政策框架日益受到冲击和挑战,近年来在许多国家已取得良好效果的通货膨胀目标制正受到越来越多的关注,很多学者认为我国也应该采取通货膨胀目标制。本文正是在这种背景下,在考察了我国货币错配现状并界定通货膨胀目标制内涵的基础上,从分析货币错配影响通货膨胀目标制实施的内在机制这一视角,结合我国特殊的国情对通货膨胀目标制在我国的适用性进行了研究。     

Fiscal policy and regional inflation in a currency union

Substantial attention has been devoted to inflation differentials within the European Monetary Union, including suggestions that inflation differentials are a policy issue for national governments. This paper investigates the ability of a region participating in a currency union to affect its inflation differential with respect to the union through fiscal policy. In a two-region general equilibrium model with traded and nontraded goods, lowering the labor income tax rate in response to positive inflation differentials succeeds in compressing inflation differentials. Such policies can lead to higher volatility of domestic inflation while leaving the volatility of real output roughly unchanged. Regional fiscal policies also have spill-over effects on the volatility of union-wide and foreign inflation in our model.     

经济虚拟化——动力、机制及其影响

资本的逐利本性和市场经济条件下财富积累方式的改变是经济虚拟化的两个基本推动力量。美元的国际本位货币地位以及美国债务经济的国际循环促成了全球范围内的流动性膨胀以及经济的快速虚拟化。经济虚拟化深刻地改变了当今世界的经济运行模式，形成了新的国际分工体系，逆转了传统经济危机发生的机理。在经济虚拟化的奈件下，我们应合理把握虚拟经济与实体经济的比例，积极推进人民币的国际化，审慎地实施宏观经济政策，处理好政府与市场的关系。     

Optimal monetary policy in a currency area

This paper investigates how monetary policy should be conducted in a two-region general equilibrium model with monopolistic competition and price stickiness. This framework delivers a simple welfare criterion based on the utility of the consumers that can be used to evaluate monetary policy in a currency area. If the two regions share the same degree of nominal rigidity, the terms of trade are completely insulated from monetary policy and the optimal outcome is obtained by targeting a weighted average of the regional inflation rates. These weights coincide with the economic sizes of the region. If the degrees of rigidity are different, the optimal plan implies a high degree of inertia in the inflation rate. But an inflation targeting policy in which higher weight is given to the inflation in the region with higher degree of nominal rigidity is nearly optimal.     

Monetary Policy: The Implications of Capacity Constraints and J-Curve Effects

We present a stylized model to analyse the short- and long-run effects of monetary policy on international debt and competitiveness. The features of this non-linear model include both currency and asset substitution in a two-country framework, paying special attention to the dynamics of international debt. We find, in contrast to conventional wisdom, that, in addition to raising competitiveness and reducing debt, a monetary contraction can generate inflation in the presence of capacity constraints. Furthermore, if the inflation effect is sufficiently strong, there may be adverse short-run responses. The policy analysis explicitly considers the short-run dynamics of competitiveness, debt, prices and trade. We find there is a second J-curve effect which only occurs when the standard J-curve effect is present together with capacity constraints. The existence of cyclical short-run behaviour presents a warning to policy-makers when assessing the progress towards target equilibrium to bear in mind that adverse short-run movements may be consistent with the long-run desired aim (i.e. there may be initial movements in the “wrong” direction which are consistent with the “expected” long-run outcome).     

基于综合分析的货币国际化研究

货币国际化是发行国(地区)政治经济实力提升的表现和结果,是其国际政治经济权力增强的重要方式和途径,也是对现行国际货币体系的修正。货币国际化战略的实施需要满足一系列内核条件和支撑条件,这些条件在一定程度上决定了货币国际化的收益和成本。国际货币体系的不稳定性和不平衡性引致了改革的需求,也为新兴经济体的货币国际化提供了契机。货币国际化是一个不断推进的过程,货币发行主体应该根据已经具备的条件,并在成本-收益分析的基础上实现货币国际化的时间演进、层次深化和空间拓展。     

我国货币中性的实证研究

国际金融危机爆发以来,降低利率、增加流通中货币成了各国政府解决金融危机的共同做法,货币对于经济的积极作用再次引起人们的关注。过于宽松的货币政策能持续多久,会不会造成严重的通货膨胀,进而破坏经济的健康发展,也同样引起人们的关注。本文对我国1978-2009年的流通中货币、利率、物价指数对GDP的影响进行了实证研究,结果表明流通中货币不是实际GDP增长的格兰杰原因,货币是中性的;GDP的实际增长率是实际利率的格兰杰原因,名义利率和GDP没有因果关系;GDP和物价指数没有格兰杰因果关系,通货膨胀不能促进经济的增长。     

Inflation,currency exchange rates,and the international securities markets

A time-state-preference model of an efficient and complete international financial market is employed to investigate the conditions under which the international Fisher Effect will hold, and the forward currency exchange rate will be an unbiased estimate of the future spot rate. The presence of stochastic inflation within countries in the fiat-currency prices of real goods will destroy both relationships, even in the absence of any institutional imperfections or trading barriers. Similarly, expected inflation rate differentials across countries will not coincide with spot-versus-forward currency exchange rate differentials.     

Optimal monetary and fiscal policy in a currency union

We lay out a tractable model for the analysis of optimal monetary and fiscal policy in a currency union. The monetary authority sets a common interest rate for the union, whereas fiscal policy is implemented at the country level, through the choice of government spending. In the presence of country-specific shocks and nominal rigidities, the policy mix that is optimal from the viewpoint of the union as a whole requires that inflation be stabilized at the union level by the common central bank, whereas fiscal policy has a country-specific stabilization role, one beyond the efficient provision of public goods.     

Asymmetry in quasi-fixed exchange-rate systems

A stochastic model of an international payments system is formulated with the assumptions that: (1) international reserves are held in the form of a key currency; (2) fixed exchange rates are subject to infrequent change; (3) deficit countries depreciate more readily than surplus countries appreciate. The model is implemented with historical data. Time paths for international reserves and prices under alternative assumptions are secured through Monte-Carlo simulation. The paths show that anti-inflationary policy by the key-currency country — viz, the United States — is easily multiplied by exchange-rate changes by other countries.     

论国际金融市场的利率传导机制

当国际金融市场的利率与一国利率存在差距时,国际资本便会流入或流出,随之又会影响其他国家的资本供给和利率。由于利差的经常存在,国际游资数额巨大,利率差的传导渠道不容低估。从利率的流动性效应着手,运用开放经济条件下利率传导的基本原理及利率、汇率和通胀率之间的关联性,分析国际金融市场利率传导机制的表现,得出来自利率汇率平价机制的市场性传导在金融全球化过程中有力地影响着各国的利率水平,并且通过实际利率的变化影响经济运行步伐。     

How to reduce inflation: an independent central bank or a currency board? The experience of the Baltic countries

Countries in transition often face high levels of inflation. This paper discusses two ways to reduce inflation: the creation of an independent central bank; and the introduction of a currency board. It is shown that both options have advantages and disadvantages. This framework is used for a normative analysis of the policy choices of the Baltic states. It is argued that, while Estonia's currency board based on the D-mark is very much in line with the criteria for an optimal monetary regime, Lithuania's initial choice of a US dollar-based currency board is not. The peg to the SDR — which very much looks like a currency board — as (eventually) adopted by Latvia is an intermediate case. Some policy recommendations and the problem of exit strategies towards the Euro zone are discussed.     

论国际金融市场上利率传导的机理及表现

当国际金融市场的利率与一国利率存在差距时 ,国际资本便会流入或流出 ,随之又会影响其他国家的资本供给和利率。由于利差的经常存在 ,国际游资数额巨大 ,利率差的传导渠道不容低估。本文从利率的流动性效应着手 ,运用开放经济条件下利率传导的基本原理及利率、汇率和通胀率之间的关联性 ,分析国际金融市场利率传导机制的表现 ,得出来自利率、汇率平价机制的市场性传导在金融全球化过程中有力地影响着各国的利率水平 ,并且通过实际利率的变化影响经济运行步伐。     

Britain and EMU: Assessing the Costs in Macroeconomic Variability

Stochastic simulations are used on the Liverpool Model of the UK to assess the effect of UK euro entry on macroeconomic stability. Instability increases substantially, particularly for inflation and real interest rates. A key factor is the extent of the euro's instability against the dollar; by adopting a regional currency the UK imports this source of shocks, as well as losing its control of interest rates. The results are not highly sensitive to changes in assumptions about the degree of labour market flexibility, the use of fiscal policy, and increased convergence of monetary transmission.     

To be or not to be in monetary union: A synthesis

Monetary union can benefit countries suffering from policy credibility problems if it eliminates the inflation bias and also allows for more efficient management of certain shocks. But it also carries costs as some stabilization may be feasible even in the absence of credibility, and this may be more than what an individual country can hope for in a monetary union. In this paper, we combine the stabilization and credibility branches of the currency union literature and construct a simple welfare criterion that can be used to evaluate alternative monetary arrangements. We produce examples where monetary union may be welfare improving even for low-modest levels of inflation bias (2-3%) as long as business cycles are not too a-synchronized across countries.     

Is the US Dollar a Suitable Anchor for the Newly Proposed GCC Currency?

Responses of inflation and non‐oil output growth from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to monetary policy shocks from the United States (US) were estimated to determine whether there is evidence to support the US dollar as the anchor for the proposed unified currency. A structural vector autoregression identified with short‐run restrictions was employed for each country with Fed funds rate as the US monetary policy instrument, non‐oil output growth and inflation. The main results suggest that for inflation, the GCC countries show synchronised responses to monetary policy shocks from the US which are similar to inflation in the US, and for non‐oil output growth, there is no clear indication that US monetary policy can be as effective for the GCC countries as it is domestically. Consequently, importing US monetary policy via a dollar peg may guarantee only stable inflation for the GCC countries – not necessarily stable non‐oil output growth. If the non‐oil output response is made conscientiously – and there are concerns over the dollar’s ability to perform its role as a store of value – a basket peg with both the US dollar and the euro may be a sound alternative as confirmed by the variance decomposition analysis of our augmented SVAR with a proxy for the European short‐term interest rate.     

构建高效安全的国际货币体系

在金融业高度发达的今天,金融产品依靠国家信用形成毫无节制的供给能力,是全球经济危机产生的根源。构建高效安全的全球金融体系,是国际经济学界和各国政府共同的历史责任,当务之急是建立多元竞争的国际货币体系、国际储备货币监测预警制度和国际金融安全合作救助机制,形成保障国际金融安全的三道防护门。在这一过程中,G20应充分发挥作用,为建立高效安全的国际货币体系作出历史性贡献。