monetary policy

The complexity of post-lockdown inflation

Vie, 11/19/2021 - 10:51 -- anegrete

Since economic activity resumed after the lockdowns, high rates of inflation have been observed around the world, although some monetary authorities have indicated that it is transitory. . The integration of global value chains, the magnitude of international trade and the productive and financial interdependence have shaped this post-confinement inflation.

Inflation is far from transitory, companies are facing a combination of supply chain challenges, as well as higher costs for energy, raw materials, packaging and shipping, all while becoming one of the biggest concerns of consumers around the world.

Central banks have taken a more aggressive stance. US Fed officials accepted that high inflation, which has risen to 5 percent, will be long-lasting. These measures are contractive, contrary to the much desired recovery of the product.

The elephant in the room

Jue, 11/04/2021 - 18:42 -- anegrete

The reasoning of modern monetary theory holds that countries with reserve currencies can maintain unlimited levels of fiscal deficits and public debt because they have financing available. The evidence, however, shows that massive deficits do not mean economic dynamism in the US.

After 2008, federal deficits have doubled from about 60% of GDP to about 120%. Emerging nations shift their resources to China through the US deficit instead of growing, since the world is one and the borders are all open, and trade is unrestricted.

US debt in nominal amounts is more than that of the rest of the world combined. So monetary inflation exists and hits first the most deficit countries, then the least, and finally the rest of the world as imported inflation.

Cryptocurrencies in Latin America

Jue, 04/29/2021 - 11:26 -- anegrete

Globally, the use of cryptocurrencies is on the rise. In Latin America there has been an increase in the use and awareness of new digital currencies.

There are different ways of looking at the causes of the increase in the use and acceptance of cryptocurrencies in Latin America: accessibility due to their anonymity; the security they generate among citizens due to the economic crises in their countries; and the incentives they offer to evade institutions.

The depreciation of the dollar due to expansive monetary policies is leading to this currency being abandoned as a reserve currency in some countries and, above all, is in the process of opening a large market for these cryptocurrencies.

Money as a commodity

Mar, 03/23/2021 - 14:42 -- anegrete

One year after the global closure due to COVID-19, exchange rates responded to financial markets more than to macroeconomic conditions. This is due to the depth that financialization has reached in the economy and the influence that the Fed's policies have on international markets.

Unlike the textbooks, where exchange rates are a reflection of economic growth, inflation and international reserves, the relationship of the exchange rate with these national variables is increasingly questionable.

Central bank intervention in exchange rates has been minimal. When the exchange rate responds more to financial variables than to real ones, the depth and degree of development of each country's financial sector is more important.

 

Gold: between fear of the dollar and speculation

Mié, 09/02/2020 - 14:43 -- anegrete

Record gold prices from 2019 onwards express the vulnerability of the international monetary system resulting from the US-China trade war and recently the impact of the COVID-19 on the global economy.

If the price of gold is linked to movements in the international financial markets and the expansive monetary policy of the US central bank: Does the current price of gold express speculation? Are there expectations of crises arising from the pandemic shock?

The current price of gold expresses the value of refuge in the face of a situation of uncertainty, channeled by investors through two large funds. The expectations of crisis were already in 2019 when the price began to rise as a reflection of the trade war and the fall in American GDP growth.

The FED: follow the leader.

Vie, 09/16/2022 - 06:23 -- bacosta

Since 1990, the idea of central bank independence from national governments has become universal. It materialised with constitutional changes in some countries and legal changes in others, which prevent the central bank from financing public finances, except for the G7 countries and China. This principle goes with the unrestricted opening of capital accounts and the complete deregulation of financial markets. Additionally, with 60% of the world's GDP in dollar bills, monetary policy and interest rates in the world are in the hands of the Fed, except in China. 

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