E65 - Studies of Particular Policy EpisodesNávrat zpět

The public finances of the Czech Republic fell into deep deficits during the pandemic, while the money supply growth rate accelerated. We make a basic comparison of monetary acceleration during the first two years of the pandemic with other countries. We verify that this acceleration in the Czech Republic was partly due to commercial banks increasing credit to the government. We argue that purchases of government bonds by non-residents have a similar effect. This is particularly true when non-residents use existing koruna deposits held by them, partly as a result of past foreign exchange interventions, to purchase government bonds. While there was an acceleration in monetary growth during the pandemic, there was a decline in monetary growth during the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). However, our analysis suggests that this was due mainly to a decline in private credit growth during the GFC. We see no fundamental reasons for a structural change in money demand as a result of the pandemic. We therefore believe that unless the observed monetary acceleration is offset by slower-than-trend monetary growth in the near term, it will translate into an increase in the price level.

The article describes both the theory and the practice of exiting from the unconventional monetary policy of quantitative easing (QE). At the theoretical level, the following issues are outlined: exit step sequence, options to decrease the amount of securities purchased, relationship between exit and interest rate hike, communication of the change and liquidity-absorbing instruments. Further, examples from Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA are introduced, especially regarding their experience with the QE exit. In detail, the monetary policy-related numbers (QE purchases, QE portfolio, central bank balance sheet, monetary base and reserves) are observed both before and after the exit announcement. The charts of these changes prove to be substantially different, mainly due to unique key features of each QE policy and diverse exit strategies.

The Council of Economic Experts and its influence on the German economic policy are discussed in this paper. The first section concentrates on the institutional background and historical genesis of this body. Consequently, the importance of the Council in preventing a competitive and efficient economic order in the ordoliberal point of view is considered. The second section offers a comparative analysis of economic policy consultancy. Some significant institutional aspects of the German Council of Economic Experts, the US Council of Economic Advisers and the French Conseil d'Analyse Économique are examined.