Some have lauded the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike after seven years as a beginning step toward the normalization of monetary policy. In recent remarks at the Bank for International Settlements’ Farewell Symposium in honor of outgoing Chairman Christian Noyer, the Fed’s vice chairman, Stanley Fischer, addressed the issue that has been raised by the BIS for … [Read more...] about The Lean or Clean Controversy
Bank for International Settlements
The Unthinkable as the New Normal
On June 28, 2015, the oldest international financial institution, the Basel-based eighty-five-year-old Bank for International Settlements, asked in its annual report a most pertinent question: “Is the unthinkable becoming routine?” The report pointed out that low interest rates “are the most remarkable symptom of a broader malaise in the global economy: the economic expansion … [Read more...] about The Unthinkable as the New Normal
Big Unease at the Tower of Basel
Once a European fortress, the BIS is about to experience a Canadian takeover. Is this an emerging Anglo-Saxon Trojan horse? When Canadian central banker Malcolm D. Knight became managing director of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel many European central bankers were not happy. A major top reshuffling is underway these days at the Bank for International … [Read more...] about Big Unease at the Tower of Basel