Europe and Japan: Monetary policies in the age of uncertainty

The 5th Bruegel - Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University conference will focus on monetary policy.

Date and time: 2 October 2017 12:00-18:00

Speakers

Grégory Claeys

Bruegel Senior fellow (on leave for public service)

Wataru Takahashi

Osaka University of Economics, former Director General, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan,

Maria Demertzis

Leader, ESF, The Conference Board Europe

Tamotsu Nakamura

Dean, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University,

Martin Hellwig

Director (em.), Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

Athanasios Orphanides

Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management, MIT

Ulrich Bindseil

Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments, European Central Bank

Miles Kimball

Professor, Department of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder,

Eric Lonergan

macro hedge fund manager, economist, and writer,

Tokiko Shimizu

General Manager for Europe and Chief Representative in London, Bank of Japan,

Lex Hoogduin

Professor Economics, University of Groningen,

Ester Faia

Chair in Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt,

Benoît Mojon

Director, Monetary and Financial Studies, Banque de France,

Marianne Nessén

Senior Advisor to the Executive Board, Sveriges Riksbank,

vIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDINGS

SUMMARY

On 2 October Bruegel and the Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University organised their annual conference, this time focusing on monetary policy.

Monetary policies have a transformative potential. Lack of understanding of these conventional and unconventional policies around the world can have a disruptive effect and delay the so much needed proposals in today’s uncertain economic and political environment.

This event discussed whether the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) have a chance of reaching their inflation targets- which is their core mandate. The event will also take a more forward looking view on specific monetary policy instruments, rather than only a general (and a bit backward looking) one on the transmission channels of monetary policy to macro and inflation. We analysed how monetary policy can operate (and "normalize") with a very large balance sheet, what are the unconventional tools and how to react to the next recession if we are still in a low interest rate environment (particularly relevant in the Japanese case), and how negative rates can be used. In addition, we challenged our experts and audience while debating how independence and accountability of Central Banks did or did not weather the crisis and how this plays in for fiscal/monetary coordination.