This paper reviews the theoretical arguments in favor and against MF and presents an empirical assessment of the risks that it may pose for inflation.

This edition of the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook reviews the impact of the COVID-19 crisis for sovereign borrowing needs, funding conditions and funding strategies as well as outstanding debt for 2020 and 2021, and provides projections for 2022 for the OECD area.

Part of The Elgar Series on Central Banking and Monetary Policy, this book explores the relationship between central banking, monetary policy and income distribution. The usual central bank mandate – that of exclusively fighting inflation – is being increasingly questioned by policymakers and academics. Many countries are finding that there is a need for broader mandates that will have an impact on economic activity, unemployment and other economic issues.

This book explores the challenges faced by central banks in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the events that followed. It further emphasises the asymmetries in the transmission of monetary policy in the Eurozone economies and among major advanced economies. The book also highlights the advances in the monetary policy debate towards an efficient resource allocation. The author argues that the canonical model of macroeconomic stabilization, which assigns the main burden of stabilization to monetary policy, is outdated primarily because of the absence of financial frictions. Further, she highlights the urgency of pushing risky activities outside the perimeters of regulation in face of rapidly evolving financial markets. The book provides an analytical framework in the context of intense globalisation and increased interdependence across economies, irrespective of the recent re-examining of supply-chains and trade relationships, as well as a policy framework thoroughly amended after the global financial crisis and the crises that followed it. Presenting policy proposals, the book discusses how policymakers must try to develop a set of policies that the public will have confidence in and take into account in forming expectations about future inflation and spending. It will be useful to central banking practitioners, monetary and fiscal policymakers, as well as students and scholars in economics and, in particular, financial economics.

In Unexpected Revolutionaries, Manuela Moschella investigates the institutional transformation of central banks from the 1970s to the present. Central banks are typically regarded as conservative, politically neutral institutions that uphold conventional macroeconomic wisdom. Yet in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, central banks have upended observer expectations by implementing largely unknown and unconventional monetary policies. Far from abiding by well-established policy playbooks, central banks now engage in practices such as providing liquidity support for a wide range of financial institutions and quantitative easing. They have even stretched the remit of monetary policy into issues such as inequality and climate change. Moschella argues that the political nature of central banks lies at the heart of these transformations. While formally independent, central banks need political support to justify their policies and powers, and to obtain it, they carefully manage their reputation among their audienceselected officials, market actors, and citizens. Challenged by reputational threats brought about by twenty-first-century recessionary and deflationary forces, central banks such as the Federal Reserve System and the European Central Bank strategically deviated from orthodox monetary policies to preempt or manage political backlash and to regain public trust. Central banks thus evolved into a new role only in coordination with fiscal authorities and on the back of public contestation. Eye-opening and insightful, Unexpected Revolutionaries is necessary reading for discussions on the future of the neoliberal macroeconomic regime, the democratic oversight of monetary policymaking, and the role that central banks canor cannotplay in our domestic economies.

This book offers a rigorous, detailed, and balanced analysis of the various contributions to the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) debate, incorporating both the arguments of proponents and those who point to its limitations and obstacles. Modern Monetary Theory has soared in popularity, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent impacts on the economy which have led to deeper discussions about monetary and financial systems, fiscal and monetary policies, inflation, and employment. The main characteristic of Modern Monetary Theory is that it offers a revolutionary way of thinking about all these issues, allowing us to abandon many of the myths that conventional economic theory installed in the collective imagination. Breaking down these false beliefs is an essential requirement for thinking and devising economic policy proposals that allow full employment to be achieved without suffering worrying inflation rates. However, this approach has also attracted many criticisms and it is also instructive to consider these in more detail to reach a fully rounded conclusion about the potential or merits of MMT. Written to be accessible to the non-economist, this book will be of great interest to readers from across the social sciences, and outside of academia who want to gain a fuller understanding of the Modern Monetary Theory phenomenon.

This paper argues that in reserve currency issuing economies at the effective lower bound, outright transfers from the central bank to households are both more equitable and more effective in achieving monetary policy objectives than asset purchases or negative interest rates. It shows that concerns pertaining to central banks’ policy solvency and equity position can be addressed through a careful assessment of a central bank's loss absorbing capacity and, if need be, tiered reserve remuneration policies. It also spells out key differences to a debt or money financed fiscal stimulus, which are particularly pronounced in a currency union without a central fiscal capacity. The paper concludes by discussing broader institutional, political, and legal considerations.