Exchange Rates,Domestic Prices,and Central Bank Actions: Recent U.S. Experience

Central banks that are primarily concerned with the behavior of prices will use monetary policy to try to insulate prices from exchange rate changes. Prices then appear unresponsive to changes in the exchange rate. The observed relationships between prices and the exchange rate will reflect central bank actions instead of the underlying relationship between exchange rates and prices. This paper explicitly recognizes the role that policy plays in determining the observable relationships between exchange rates and prices, and in so doing, it illustrates how the underlying relationships can be unraveled. Using three different empirical approaches, we examine the recent experience of the United States. We find that the prices of various nondurable goods, and even of some services, respond modestly to the exchange rate, and we find that the responses emerge most clearly when the role of monetary policy is explicitly considered. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the Federal Reserve acts to mitigate the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on domestic prices.     

Bank loans and the effects of monetary policy in China: VAR/VECM approach

In this paper, we test the differential effects of monetary policy shock on aspects of banks' balance sheets (deposits, loans, and securities) across bank categories (aggregate banks, state banks, and non-state banks) as well as on macroeconomic variables (output, consumer price index, exports, imports, and foreign exchange reserves). We do so by estimating VAR/VEC Models to uncover the transmission mechanisms of China's monetary policy. Also we identify the cointegrating vectors to establish the long-run relationship between these variables. By using monthly aggregate bank data and disaggregated data on bank and loan types from 1996 to 2006, our study suggests the existence of a bank lending channel, an interest rate channel and an asset price channel. Furthermore, we discuss and explore the distribution and growth effects of China's monetary policy on China's real economy. In addition, we investigate the effects of China's monetary policy on China's international trade. Finally, we identify the cointegrating vectors among these variables and set up VEC Models to uncover the long-run relationships that connect the indicators of monetary policy, bank balance sheet variables and the macroeconomic variables in China.     

Hot Money Flows,Commodity Price Cycles and Financial Repression in the USA and China： The Consequences of Near-zero US Interest Rates

Under near-zero US interest rates, the international dollar standard malfunctions. Emerging markets with naturally higher interest rates are swamped with hot money inflows. Emerging market central banks intervene to prevent their currencies from rising precipitately. They lose monetary control and domestic prices begin inflating. Primary commodity prices rise worldwide unless interrupted by an international banking crisis＇. This cyclical inflation on the dollar＇s periphery only registers in the US core eonsumer price index with a long lag. The zero interest rate policy also fails to stimulate the US economy as domestic finaneial intermediation by banks and money market mutual funds is repressed. Because China is forced to keep its interest rates below market-clearing levels, it also suffers from finaneial repression, although in a form differing from that in the USA.     

Asymmetric Learning from Prices and Post‐Earnings‐Announcement Drift

Motivated by research in psychology and experimental economics, we assume that investors update their beliefs about an asset's value upon observing the price, but only when the price clearly reveals that others obtained private information that differs from their own private information. Specifically, we assume that investors learn from the price of an asset in an asymmetric manner—they learn from the price if they observe good (bad) private information and the price is worse (better) than what is justified based on public information alone. We show that asymmetric learning from an asset's price leads to post‐earnings‐announcement drift (PEAD), and that it generates arbitrage opportunities that are less attractive than alternative explanations of PEAD. In addition, our model predicts that PEAD will be concentrated in earnings surprises that are not dominated by accruals, and it also predicts that earnings response coefficients will decline in the magnitude of the earnings surprises.     

On the Relation between Money and Derivatives and its Application to the International Monetary Market

The paper deals with the problem of defining money in a system with derivatives. We conclude that derivatives have to be included in the definition of money, and support our conclusions with an econometric test on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Chicago Board of Trade indexes. We focus on the direct relationship between derivatives' supply and the interest rate, the analytical basis of speculative money demand introduced by Keynes and the foundation of the Fratianni-Savona model to single out the international monetary base. Consequently, monetary aggregates measured by international institutions, such as the Bank for International Settlements, underestimate the actual offshore market size. Derivatives are the primary instruments used by speculators. There is money, mainly in reserve currencies, that is not controlled and that may cause systemic instability (e.g., the recent Asian crisis).     

The impact of world oil price shocks on macroeconomic variables in Vietnam: the transmission through domestic oil price

This study examines the impact of world oil price shocks on macroeconomic variables in Vietnam with a focus on the transmission channel of domestic oil prices. The Structural Vector Autoregression model with two blocks of real economy variables and monetary variables is employed. The world oil price follows an autoregressive process to reflect the exogenous nature of world oil price shocks to the domestic economy. The retail domestic oil price is determined simultaneously by only the world oil price due to the government's control of the domestic oil market. Using monthly data in the period between 2009 and 2021, the study indicates that a positive shock to world oil prices will increase the domestic oil prices significantly, industrial production (slightly and only statistically significant in the third month after), and inflation (significantly in 8 months). Besides, the domestic oil price is not the only transmission channel of world oil price shocks to the economy. This result implies forecasting, assessing, and controlling the impact of the world oil price shock on the economy should focus on both domestic oil prices and other indirect channels.     

Central Bank Policy in a More Perfect Financial System

Financial innovation increases markets' liquidity and provides economic agents with new instruments to better handle risks, but it reduces the efficacy of monetary policy while strengthening the logic and force of the “unholy trinity”. Increased liquidity of financial markets and increased leverage of financial positions imply that speculators can attack unsustainable fixed exchange rates faster and more powerfully than ever. The rapid innovation of new financial instruments in these markets also implies the futility to “throw sand in the wheels” through regulation or the introduction of transaction taxes. The higher asset substitutability generated by the emergence of derivatives makes the definition of “money,” particularly of broad monetary aggregates, increasingly difficult. In a more complete financial market system central banks find it harder to predict the effect of a given monetary impulse on real output and employment with any reasonable precision. Discretionary monetary policies aimed at output and employment become more uncertain. Consequently, central banks should focus on the long-run goal of price stability.     

Exchange Rate and Inflation Dynamics in a Resource Rich Setting: The Case of Zambia

This paper investigates the relationship between copper prices, the exchange rate and consumer price inflation in Zambia using a structural vector autoregression with quarterly data for 1995–2014 and a combination of sign and zero restrictions to identify relevant global and domestic shocks. The paper makes two contributions. First, it provides new measures of exchange rate pass through (ERPT), based on less restrictive assumptions than previous estimates, to show how changes in the value of the kwacha are reflected in changes in consumer prices (distinguishing food and non‐food inflation). Second, the ERPT is disaggregated to demonstrate that measured ERPT depends on the nature of the shock, with implications for policy responses. Although the price of copper is the most important driver of the exchange rate, the fluctuations it caused are associated with a low pass‐through of about 7% (consistent with a period of relatively low inflation). Exchange rate fluctuations caused by monetary shocks, in contrast, come with a pass‐through of up to 25% (and even more for food prices). A fast response by monetary authorities can mitigate the adverse effects of exchange rate shocks.     

The effectiveness of monetary policy in China: Evidence from a Qual VAR

Analyzing monetary policy in China is not straightforward because the People's Bank of China (PBoC) implements policy by using more than one instrument. In this paper we use a Qual VAR, a conventional VAR system augmented with binary policy announcements, to extract a latent indicator of tightening and easing pressure, respectively, for China. The model acknowledges that policy announcements are endogenous and summarizes policy by a single indicator. The Qual VAR allows us to study the impact of monetary policy in terms of unexpected changes in these latent variables, which we identify using sign restrictions. We show that the transmission of monetary policy impulses to the rest of the economy is similar to the transmission process in advanced economies in terms of both output growth and inflation despite a very different monetary policy framework. We find that bank loans are not sensitive to policy changes, which implies that window guidance is still a necessary policy tool. We also find that the impact of monetary policy shocks is asymmetric in terms of asset prices, that is, the asset price reactions differ in their sensitivity to tightening shocks and easing shocks, respectively. In particular, an easing of monetary conditions boosts stock prices while a tightening shock leaves stock prices unaffected. This shows that monetary policy is not a suitable tool to stabilize asset prices, which raises implications for financial stability and macroprudential policy.     

资产价格在货币政策传导中的作用

文章对资产价格在货币政策传导中的作用进行实证研究，结果表明，我国同时存在着从中央银行到资产价格的高效传导和从资产价格到实体经济的低效传导，资产价格的波动损害了货币政策的传导效率以及金融体系的稳定性。在这种情况下，我国中央银行不应把资产价格纳入货币政策的最终目标，而应适时和适度地对资产价格作出反应。     

International spillovers of U.S. monetary uncertainty and equity market volatility to China’s stock markets

Due to the global economy that is currently being increasingly integrated and liberalized, the cross-country transmission of U.S. monetary policy surprises has become a critical issue attracting scholarly attention. This research thus extends the existing literature by assessing the causal linkages among U.S. monetary policy uncertainty (USMPU), equity market volatility, and China’s stock price index over the period from January 1994 to August 2021. We apply Granger causality in quantile analysis to explore the relationships in each quantile of the distribution in a comprehensible manner. The results indicate that equity market volatility and China’s stock price dynamics play little role in affecting USMPU. We also find that only greater changes in both positive monetary policy uncertainty and stock prices lead to changes in equity market volatility. Furthermore, fluctuations in monetary policy uncertainty and equity market volatility in the United States Granger-cause China’s stock prices. Knowing such causality results could prevent market participants from adopting a one-size-fits-all strategy.     

房贷风险评估及银行的应对策略

房地产是当今中国经济的支柱产业,而房地产发展的资金绝大部分由银行贷款获得,因此房价的变动会使银行的贷款业务面临风险。本文首先分析了现阶段房贷与房价之间的关系,接着讨论了人口因素对房价的影响,分析了房价的走势;最后计算了在不同的贷款方式下,商业银行应对房价下调时的贷款风险临界值,给出了商业银行防范房价变动的应对策略。     

Japan＇s Bubble,the USA＇s Bubble and China＇s Bubble

This paper compares the three recent episodes of boom and bust cycles in asset prices: Japan in the late 1980s to the 1990s; the USA since the mid‐1990s; and China during the past decade. Although we have not yet seen a collapse of Chinese property prices, their increases so far are comparable to those in the other two episodes and a careful comparative study is warranted. The present paper first examines the behavior of asset prices, of property prices in particular, in the three cases, and highlights some similarities. The paper emphasizes the role played by extremely easy monetary policy in generating bubble‐like asset price behavior in the three cases. The reason for easy monetary policies is investigated. In the US case, the monetary authority was concerned about the risk of deflation in the early to mid‐2000s. The experiences of Japan and China are quite similar in that the monetary authorities of both countries were seriously concerned about the possible deflationary effects of exchange rate appreciation on the economy. The implications of such a finding for the future of Chinese macroeconomic policy are discussed.     

Optimal Monetary Policy in China

Using the structural vector autoregression model, we estimate the current responses of monetary policy to contemporaneous shocks from macroeconomic variables. Our findings indicate that the People's Bank of China responded to inflation and output changes, but did not react to asset price fluctuations during the period from January 1997 to March 2010. The optimal monetary responses to exogenous shocks are also examined. It is revealed that using asset prices to formulate monetary policy would not help to improve monetary authorities' performance in lowering the volatilities of output growth and inflation while keeping output growth and inflation in their safety zones. The effectiveness of monetary policy and fiscal policy in reacting to external shocks is also discussed.     

Asset Prices, Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stability

This article discusses the role of asset prices in the conduct of monetary policy when the ultimate goal is to maintain price stability and limit fluctuations in real income. It is argued that judicious interpretation of asset price movements can provide information about the risks of future macroeconomic imbalances, and that this information should be utilized in monetary policy decisions. Simulations results from both theoretical and empirical models support the conceptual argument. It is stressed that policy reactions to asset prices must not follow a mechanical rule, since the appropriate response depends on the underlying shock.     

Commodity Prices, Inflationary Pressures, and Monetary Policy: Evidence from BRICS Economies

We assess the transmission of monetary policy and the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices on the real economy for the five biggest and fastest growing emerging market economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Using modern econometric techniques, we show that a monetary policy contraction has a negative effect on output, suggesting that it can lean against unexpected macroeconomic shocks even when the financial markets are not well-developed in this group of countries. We also uncover the importance of commodity price shocks, which lead to a rise in inflation and demand an aggressive behaviour from central banks towards inflation stabilisation.     

货币政策背景下房价的变动关系研究

本文在货币政策传导理论的基础上,通过向量误差修正模型(VECM)实证分析了房价在货币政策传导过程中的作用。通过分析可知,房价在货币政策传导过程中起到了一定的作用,房价渠道的传导效率整体而言比较高,由此而知货币政策和房价之间存在着一定程度的关系。     

Towards improved monetary policy in Indonesia

Indonesia's depreciation vastly exceeded that of all other countries hit by the Asian crisis. Indonesia also experienced far higher inflation. This paper argues that there is a close medium to long-term relationship between money growth and inflation in Indonesia, and that this has not been greatly disturbed by the crisis. It argues that the country's disappointing performance in relation to maintaining the value of the rupiah can be explained by the central bank's failure to sterilise the monetary impact on base money of its last-resort lending to the banks. The fundamental lesson is that Bank Indonesia would be well advised to adopt slow and steady growth of base money as the nominal anchor for monetary policy, now that the pre-crisis policy of slow and steady depreciation of the rupiah has been abandoned.     

Exchange Rate Regimes: Middling Through

Abstract

The appropriate exchange rate regime, in the context of integration of currency markets with financial markets and of large international capital flows, continues to be a policy dilemma. It is found that the majority of countries are moving towards somewhat higher exchange and lower interest rate volatility. Features of foreign exchange (forex) markets could be partly motivating these choices. A model with noise trading, non-traded goods and price rigidities shows that bounds on the volatility of the exchange rate can lower noise trading in forex markets; decrease fundamental variance and improve real fundamentals in an emerging market economy (EME); and give more monetary policy autonomy. Central banks prefer secret interventions where they have an information advantage or fear destabilizing speculation. But in the model discussed in this article, short-term pre-announced interventions can control exchange rate volatility, pre-empt deviations in prices and real exchange rates, and allow markets to help central banks achieve their targets. The long-term crawl need not be announced. In conclusion, the regime's applicability to an EME is explored.     

Stock Prices, Output and the Monetary Regime

Should monetary policy react to stock prices? The answer depends on whether stock prices are good predictors of future economic activity. Using long annual time-series data for the G-7 countries, data going back over 150 years for some countries, we find that stock prices do not systematically predict output growth regardless of the monetary regime in effect. We also find no evidence of a nonlinear relationship between stock prices and output except during the gold standard, when stock price booms and busts had some predictive power for output growth volatility.