17
Jul
2020

Is the world still at risk of the “Japan disease”?

This question was posed by the editors of The International Economy to a symposium of over thirty analysts, including William White. White responded that the world will likely languish in “an extended low growth funk” unless the problem of ever growing public and private sector debt is adequately addressed. The “headwinds” of debt were already exerting an undesirable influence on the global economy prior to the pandemic, and the policy response (however necessary, short term)  has made this underlying problem worse. White suggests that, absent any credible alternative policies, cooperative agreements between debtors and creditors to restructure debts might be the least costly and least risky solution.

InternationalEconomySpring2020Japanificationpdf

 

Posted by williamw in Articles, Press
13
Jun
2020

Beyond the lockdown: Monetary policy and financial stability in the transition

William White gave a webinar on 9 June 2020 for the Global Risk Institute. He began by explaining how the global economy developed a number of “dangerous preconditions” prior to the onset of the covid 19 pandemic. In particular, global debt ratios had swelled to unprecedented levels under the influence of extremely accomodative monetary conditions.  The fiscal and monetary response to the pandemic, in the advanced market economies, will further increase debt ratios with implications for both financial stability and inflation. Mr White noted that, unfortunately,  these macroeconomic challenges will be accompanied by other challenges as well. It is clear that current trends with respect to wealth  distribution and environmental damage are not sustainable. While solutions can be proposed for all of these challenges, they will be costly and there will be political resistance. People must be convinced that solutions that are “unpalatable” are preferable to outcomes that are “disastrous”. The need for debt restructuring needs particular attention.

https://globalriskinstitute.org/past-events/beyond-the-lockdown-monetary-policy-and-financial-stability-in-the-transition/

Posted by williamw in Presentations
22
May
2020

Simple Lessons for Policymakers from Embracing Complexity

This article will be published shortly as a chapter in a book “New Approaches to Economic Challenges: The Financial System” , published by the OECD in Paris. It is argued in the chapter that economies are Complex, Adaptive Systems (CAS). Such systems are widespread in nature and society,have been well studied by other disciplines, and have many shared characteristics. This communality implies that insights from other disciplines might inform macroeconomic policies as well. Ironically, the embrace of complexity leads to at least ten lessons for policymakers that, while revolutionary,  are both simple and intensely practical.

On 19 August, prior to its publication by the OECD, the chapter was also published as an article in the Swiss financial newspaper “The Market”.

https://themarket.ch/english/simple-lessons-for-macro-policymakers-from-embracing-complexity-ld.2503

 

Posted by williamw in Publications
21
May
2020

Economic Dominoes Are Starting to Drop

In a Forbes magazine article published on 1 May, John Mauldin referred to William White as “the former chief economist at the Bank for International Settlements and my favorite central banker”. In the article, Maudlin refers to the massive and dangerous growth in global debt since 2009 (pre pandemic) and the enabling role played by monetary easing.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2019/05/01/economic-dominoes-are-starting-to-drop/#2f17084d7cec

Posted by williamw
21
May
2020

Surveillance: Monetary Policy with William White (Podcast)

William White appeared on Bloomberg Television on 7 April, and then on a radio podcast with Tom Keene, Jon Ferraro and Paul Sweeney. He expressed concern about the possible ineffectiveness of still more monetary easing and the possibility of unintended and undesired consequences. He supported the greater reliance on fiscal expansion in the current pandemic crisis, noting that the market was likely to be “patient” before responding badly to sharp increases in government debt. White noted however that the market’s “patience” was not likely to be infinite and that thought should be directed to solving this problem going forward.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2020-04-07/surveillance-monetary-policy-with-william-white-podcast

Posted by williamw in Interviews, Press
16
May
2020

Debt restructuring in the post- pandemic economy

On 14 May 2020 William White was interviewed on  radio by Mark Burgess, the Asian Chairman of OMFIF. Mr White described the state of the global economy, pre covid-19, as “an accident waiting to happen”.  The global economy now faces a period of prolonged distress because of a combination of circumstances; these preconditions, aggravations arising from the pandemic itself, then the costs of the government lock-down in response to the health threats, and finally the fiscal and monetary measures taken by governments to ease the economic costs of the lock-down. Perhaps most importantly, the preexisting  problem of very high global debt levels has now worsened significantly. The conversation then turned to possible outcomes ranging from lingering depression to very high inflation.

https://www.omfif.org/podcast/debt-restructuring-in-the-post-pandemic-economy/

Posted by williamw in Interviews, Press
14
May
2020

The last gasps of the easy money experiment

On May 12 William White was interviewed by Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital on Real Vision. White spoke about the limitations of both monetary and fiscal policies going forward, and the need for countries to improve the capacity of the institutional framework to cope with a potentially sharp  increase in debt restructurings. In the wide ranging conversation, attention was also drawn to increasing constraints on central bank “independence” and some inherent flaws in the International Monetary (Non) System.

https://rvtv.io/365xDbl

 

 

 

 

Posted by williamw in Interviews, Press
23
Apr
2020

Coronavirus and the bursting of the everything bubble

On 22 April, William White participated in a panel organized by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Other participants were Tobias Adrian (IMF), Jeffrey Frankel (Harvard University) and Desmond Lachman (AEI).  In addition to responding to various questions posed by the moderator, Alex Pollock, Mr. White led a discussion on how debt accumulation increases the exposure of the economy to exogenous shocks – like the coronavirus. While the current response of  monetary and fiscal stimulus is appropriate, both policies serve to raise debt levels even further. Significantly more attention needs to be paid to judicial and administrative procedures for restructuring debt, both private and public, in order to avoid more disorderly and costly outcomes.

https://www.aei.org/events/webinar-coronavirus-and-the-bursting-of-the-everything-bubble/

 

 

Posted by williamw in Presentations
23
Apr
2020

How long should lockdown measures to fight covid-19 continue?

This article was published on 22 April 2020 in “The Market” a Swiss digital business paper associated with NZZ. It argues that governments need to clarify the criteria they will use to determine when to relax the current “lockdown”, which is helping to save lives (by taking the pressure off hospitals), but also has enormous economic (lost jobs)  and social costs. “Flattening the curve” by social distancing should be complemented as soon as possible by all the government expenditures (and legislation) needed to allow the hospitals to cope. Then, social distancing, with all its costs, can be relaxed. Much improved antigen and antibody testing will also support earlier relaxation.

https://themarket.ch/meinung/how-long-should-lockdown-measures-to-fight-covid-19-continue-ld.1915

Posted by williamw in Articles, Press
15
Apr
2020

To what extent will the global role of the US Dollar have changed a decade from now?

William White, together with a number of other economists, answered this question in a submission to the Winter 2020 edition of “The International Economy”.  White notes that the current dollar based regime is decidedly sub optimal, not least because it has no nominal anchor and no reliable lender of last resort, and it needs to be replaced. While there is currently no political appetite to engage in such discussions, the next serious crisis in the global financial system might change this. White suggests that a crucial exposure today is  the massive reliance on short term dollar funding faced by many non US financial institutions. Should this trigger other problems, it might lead to a broader discussion of the shortcomings of the current International Monetary (Non) System.

InternationalEconomyDollarSurvivalWinter2020
Posted by williamw in Publications

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