Tag Archives: Notes

Beschlüsse der EZB zum Staatsanleihekaufprogramm kompetenzwidrig. Critical discussion on Verfassungsblog by Alexander Thiele. Critical Twitter thread by Jean-Pierre Landau.

Links provided by Wanderu.

In the NZZ, Matthias Müller reports how China’s CBDC plans progress: In China beginnen nun im Viertel Xiangcheng, das zu der unweit von Schanghai gelegenen Millionenstadt Suzhou gehört, in einem geschlossenen System erste Tests. … Die PBoC dürfte ein zweistufiges System entwickelt haben. Auf der ersten Ebene wird die digitale Währung an die Geschäftsbanken ausgegeben. Auf der zweiten Ebene können dann die Haushalte und Unternehmen den digitalen Yuan abheben und verwenden. … In Suzhou...

IDEAS/RePEc’s Economics Virtual Seminar Calendar aggregates information. Some selected seminar series: Virtual macro seminar Princeton BCF HELP! Global virtual seminar series on FinTech Virtual digital economy seminar

What’s left? The new plans envision Several stablecoins tied to existing fiat currencies rather than (or in addition to) to the originally planned currency basket. No more “permissionless” transactions, no more “censorship resistance.” Vetting of new wallets by the operator (KYC, AML). The new Libra White Paper. Teunis Brosens and Carlo Cozucco in ING’s THINK. Kiran Stacey and Hannah Murphy in the FT. Philip Sandner and Jonas Gross in Medium.

Promising to do “whatever it takes” in order to avert a bad equilibrium is very different from printing money when the problem is a lack of resources, or their distribution. See Gilles Saint-Paul’s “Whatever it Takes.”

In Die Mittelländische Zeitung, a Swiss doctor criticizes Switzerland’s preparations and response to Covid-19. He points to Lack of preparation by political decision makers Misleading communication by federal health officials Their apparent lack of awareness of academic work on the topic Arrogance in Switzerland and the West vis-à-vis China and other far eastern countries Sensationalist scare mongering in the media Calls for systematic infection of groups that are less at risk Informative...

How Switzerland peps up SMEs: Banks are encouraged to extend credit (at 0%). The treasury guarantees the loans. The SNB refinances banks and accepts the guaranteed loans as collateral. Fast and efficient. Eventually, some of these loans will turn into grants of course. But that’s ok; the first-best response to a shock with asymmetric effects does involve transfers if markets are incomplete. You Might Also Like...

How Switzerland peps up SMEs: Banks are encouraged to extend credit (at 0%). The treasury guarantees the loans. The SNB refinances banks and accepts the guaranteed loans as collateral. Fast and efficient. Eventually, some of these loans will turn into grants of course. But that’s ok; the first-best response to a shock with asymmetric effects does involve transfers if markets are incomplete.

The first of a long sequence of nice papers on the virus by economists are out: Martin Eichenbaum, Sergio Rebelo, and Mathias Trabandt (2020), The Macroeconomics of Epidemics. NBER wp 26882. (My comments on Twitter.) James Stock (2020), Coronavirus Data Gaps and the Policy Response to the Novel Corona Virus. Mimeo. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to reliably estimate the asymptomatic rate—the share among the infected who do not show strong symptoms. Data: Unconditional mortality rates...