Saturday, February 26, 2011

Dow Jones

Emerging market economies are likely to continue growing rapidly, Bank of England policy maker Charles Bean said Friday, also noting that prices for agricultural commodities could drop back a bit. Bean was responding to questions from the audience about inflation and rising commodity prices at the Chicago Booth U.S. Monetary Policy Forum in New York. He is the deputy governor for monetary policy. "It's reasonable to expect emerging economies to continue to grow pretty rapidly," Bean told an audience of Federal Reserve officials and top bank economists.

When asked about core versus headline inflation, Bean said he has always been wary of core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices. He said it is important that policy makers dig below the measure of core inflation and consider the forces that are driving growth.

The key question now is just how much the rapid growth in commodity prices over the last six months will affect prices in general, Bean said.  In his prepared remarks, Bean said that asset purchases should be part of a central bank's monetary policy toolkit only in emergencies. He said central banks should use short-term interest rates as their primary policy tool when normalcy returns.

Central banks have accumulated sizeable holdings in recent years after buying assets such as government bonds and other securities, in a bid to stimulate growth amid the global downturn. When asked if a bank could use large-scale asset sales as a way to cool the economy once growth starts to surge, Bean said, in principle, yes. However, he said, asset sales aren't the best way to cool off an economy. Monetary policy is best designed for that purpose, he noted. "The first tool should be macroprudential tools."

22 comments:

  1. So my question is which central banks and how much?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the big question here is what IS driving growth right now? The oil markets are chaotic to the point where they're almost completely unreliable for investors, and it seems like the chaos is felt to a lesser extent in the other commodities (like food). It's like watching the gigantic beast that is capitalism walking around with a hangover....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emerging economies sure are developing fast. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the first tool should be a huge party! WOOO

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, when there's so much more growing to do in growing economies, I think it's obvious that they'll continue to grow at much faster rates for several years to come.

    ReplyDelete
  6. your blog has stimulated my financial conciousness ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. what is this macroprudential tools?

    ReplyDelete
  8. good info thanks!

    I made a new music mix today! Check it out :)
    http://electricaddict.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would keep under control in Brazil. Its economic growth is significant at this time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If we keep selling to banks, they will rule us very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Excellent read. I remain a bull in this market.

    ReplyDelete
  12. hopefully the 'dow jones' is not gonna be a 'low jones' HAHAHA ...

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like the idea of banks selling off assets to stimulate growth. I'm thinking that's more of a short-term solution though, right?

    In the end, it is monetary policy that dictates the long-run economic recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  14. People don't realize the Dow is just an average...it's a measuring stick used for the market.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Macroprudential? Not microprudential lol.

    Rapid growth in commodities... that would be gas/petrol

    ReplyDelete
  16. Why people pay attention to core inflation, I dont know. Do we not pay for food and gas?

    ReplyDelete