March 2008
The remarkable stability of low domestic inflation in many countries requires explanation. In this paper, a number of competing hypotheses are evaluated on a stand-alone basis, and all are found to be inadequate.
Globalisation and the determinants of domestic inflation.pdf
Speech by Mr William R White, Economic Adviser and Head of Monetary and Economic Department of the BIS, at the opening dinner of the BIS Conference in Honour of Palle Andersen Basel, 2 December 2007
Date: 2 December 2007 ~2007 12_White Speech at the Opening Dinner Palle conference_Dec 2007.pdf
Paper presented at the Symposium on “Housing, housing finance and monetary policy” at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 29–31 September 2007 by William Roy White Economic Adviser and Head of MED Bank for International Settlements
Publication: “Housing, housing finance and monetary policy” symposium Jackson Hole, Wyoming Date: 29 September 2007 2007 08_White Speech _Jackson Hole_31August2007.pdf
Keynote speech at the Irving Fisher Committee Conference on “Measuring the financial position of the household sector”, Basel, 30-31 August 2006.
Aggregate household saving rates have been declining in many industrial countries. In part, this has been a by-product of rising house prices which have, not only given house owners the illusion of increased wealth (saving the easy way), but have also been a source of increased collateral to allow higher levels of borrowing to support consumption.
Opening remarks by Mr William R White, Economic Adviser and Head of Monetary and Economic Department of the BIS, at the BIS Fifth Annual Research Conference on “Financial Globalisation”, Brunnen 19 June 2006.
Event or Meeting: BIS Fifth Annual Research Conference on “Financial Globalisation” Date: 19 June 2006 File: 19062006_Financial Globalisation.pdf
Contribution to the “Festschrift Die Schweizerische Nationalbank 1907 2007
(commemorative publication ” The Swiss National Bank 1907-2007)
No one in the industrial countries should now question the substantial economic benefits associated with reducing inflation from earlier, high levels. At the same time, history also teaches that the stability of consumer prices might not be sufficient to ensure macroeconomic stability. Past experience is replete with examples of major economic and financial crises that were not preceded by inflationary pressures. Conversely, history shows that many periods of deflation, based on rising productivity, were simultaneously characterised by rapid growth. Recent structural changes in the global economy imply that this history might have more contemporaneous relevance than is commonly thought. If so, the implication is that policies directed to the pursuit of price stability might have to be applied more flexibly and with a longer-run focus than has recently been the case.
Publication: Bank For International Settlements Date: 1 April 2006 work205.Is Price Stability Enough.pdf
in Kiel Economic Policy Papers no 2 Kiel Institute for World Economics, September 2005 and BIS Working Papers, no 193, January 2006
The successful pursuit of the objective of low inflation by central banks in recent decades has also delivered low variability of both inflation and output. At the same time, numerous financial and other “imbalances” (defined here as significant and sustained deviations from historical norms) have emerged. Should these imbalances revert to the mean, there could be significant effects on output growth. Although such an adverse outcome remains only a possibility, the question asked in this paper is whether we might still benefit from a new macrofinancial stabilisation framework in which monetary and regulatory policies gave more attention to avoiding the emergence of imbalances in the first place.
in the Irving Fischer Committee Bulletin: Proceedings of the Conference on “Central Bank Issues regarding National and Financial Accounts
Basel, 9-10 September 2004, no 19 edited by Hans van Wijk, November 2004, pages 33-37
Speech by William R White, Economic Adviser, Bank for International Settlements, at a Financial Stability Symposium organised by the Netherlands Bank and held in Amsterdam on 25-26 October 2004.
Date: 25 October 2004 ~1004_Amsterdam_presentation_25-26Oct2004_speech versionDecember04.pdf
Symposium – De Nederlandsche Bank NV, 25-26 October 2004, Pages 47-64
Date: 25 October 2004 ~1004_Amsterdam_presentation_25-26Oct2004_speech versionDecember04.pdf