Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Europe and the U.S.

Interest rate policy, open market operations or bond-buying, and bank reserve requirements are three weapons central banks can use when making strategic monetary policy decisions.

In Blackstone’s Wall Street Journal article he contrasts the use of these instruments by the ECB and the US Federal Reserve as well as other central banks such as China, Japan, and England.

The European Central Bank is likely to be the first central bank to raise interest rates since the 2008 Credit Crisis. Moving rates higher would signal that the country’s capital growth is expanding.

The US Federal Reserve currently remains in a period of quantitative easing which calls for government bond-buying through June 2011.

Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2011
Central Banks Grapple With Competing Forces

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