Gulnara Nolan

Six methods of unconventional monetary policy

/in , , , /by

In a recent response to questions, The Reserve Bank of Australia has listed six options of unconventional monetary policy that is considered in an event of extreme policy implementation. Westpac economists have also talked about potential unconventional monetary policy tools applicable to the NZ case here – this is worth a read, but is a different list!

In this post I would like to outline the RBA’s options and hopefully make them easy to understand.

Read more
Gulnara Nolan

What is the difference between sterilized and unsterilized intervention?

/in , , /by

Recently I’ve been trying to get my head around the difference between a “sterilized” asset purchase by a central bank and an “unsterilized” purchase. Here is where I’ve gotten to – happy for any comments or clarifications!

Read more
The Hand

Tweet of the day: Growth, productivity, resources

/in , /by

Economic growth is a much bemoaned topic, but what this tweet nicely illustrates is that the type of growth economists often talk about differs from the type of growth that concerns a number of people. Here we’ll briefly consider how we can understand this tweet.

Read more
Infometrics

The disabled aren’t worth less than the old – so why does policy act like they are?

/in , /by

This article was originally published on the Infometrics website here.

One of the true tests of a society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members, particularly the old, the young, the sick, and the disabled. There is a lot of good with New Zealand and New Zealand policy. However, on assisting those unable to provide for themselves, our provisions for people unable to work due to a health condition is an area where we are increasingly failing. 

Read more
Gulnara Nolan

A New GDP measure (GDP-B) in a digital economy

/in , , /by

Although GDP is a good measure of what it is supposed to measure, there are always questions about whether it is the right measure when asking a given policy question. This was the driving motivation behind the Living Standard’s Framework and the development of a suite of measures to inform our views on wellbeing, as I’ve previously written (with Anita King and Nairn MacGibbon).

The focus of this post is on digitization. In an era of digitization, economists have become more and more concerned about whether the conventional way of calculating GDP is appropriate for asking questions about changes in consumer welfare (surplus) through time.

Read more
Gulnara Nolan

Investment, uncertainty, and monetary policy: Part II

/in /by

As per my earlier post, this follow up aims to understand how uncertainty influences monetary policy. Although we will use the lens of investment, these arguments hold for planned expenditure in the economy more generally.

Read more