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Monetary policy in the grip of a pincer movement

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  • Claudio Borio
  • Piti Disyatat
  • Mikael Juselius
  • Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul

Abstract

Monetary policy has been in the grip of a pincer movement, caught between growing financial cycles, on the one hand, and an inflation process that has become quite insensitive to domestic slack, on the other. This two-pronged attack has laid bare some of the limitations of prevailing monetary policy frameworks, particularly in the analytical notions that have guided much of its practice. We argue that the natural rate of interest as a guidepost for monetary policy has a couple of limitations: the concept, as traditionally conceived, neglects the state of the financial cycle in the definition of equilibrium; in addition, it underestimates the role that monetary policy regimes may play in persistent real interest rate movements. These limitations may expose monetary policy to blindsiding by the collateral damage that comes from an unhinged financial cycle. We propose a more balanced approach that recognises the difficulties monetary policy has in fine-tuning inflation and responds more systematically to the financial cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat & Mikael Juselius & Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul, 2018. "Monetary policy in the grip of a pincer movement," BIS Working Papers 706, Bank for International Settlements.
    • Handle: RePEc:bis:biswps:706
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    3. Potjagailo, Galina & Wolters, Maik H., 2023. "Global financial cycles since 1880," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Elena Deryugina & Maria Guseva & Alexey Ponomarenko, 2022. "The Credit Cycle and Measurement of the Natural Rate of Interest," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 11(1), pages 87-104.
    5. Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul & Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat Author-X-Name_First: Piti, 2019. "Monetary policy hysteresis and the financial cycle," BIS Working Papers 817, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Bihari, Péter, 2019. "Szempontok a jegybank mandátumának újragondolásához [Perspectives for a review of the central bank mandate]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1241-1256.
    7. Mariña Martínez-Malvar & Laura Baselga-Pascual, 2020. "Bank Risk Determinants in Latin America," Risks, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-20, September.
    8. Frohm, Erik, 2020. "Price-setting and economic slack: Evidence from firm-level survey data," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Alex Ilek & Nimrod Cohen, 2023. "Semi-Structural Model with Household Debt for Israel," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2023.03, Bank of Israel.
    10. Boehl, Gregor, 2022. "Monetary policy and speculative asset markets," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    11. William Chen & Gregory Phelan, 2018. "Dynamic Consequences of Monetary Policy for Financial Stability," Department of Economics Working Papers 2018-06, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    12. Nadezhda Ivanova & Mikhail Andreev & Andrey Sinyakov & Ivan Shevchuk, 2019. "Review of Bank of Russia Conference on ‘Macroprudential Policy Effectiveness: Theory and Practice’," Russian Journal of Money and Finance, Bank of Russia, vol. 78(3), pages 89-121, September.
    13. Claudio Borio, 2019. "Central banking in challenging times," BIS Working Papers 829, Bank for International Settlements.
    14. William Chen & Gregory Phelan, 2023. "Should Monetary Policy Target Financial Stability," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 49, pages 181-200, July.
    15. Stephen Grenville, 2018. "Discussion of Twenty-five Years of Inflation Targeting in Australia: Are There Better Alternatives for the Next Twenty-five Years?," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: John Simon & Maxwell Sutton (ed.),Central Bank Frameworks: Evolution or Revolution?, Reserve Bank of Australia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monetary policy; financial stability; financial cycle; natural interest rate; inflation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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