Central banks must time a ‘good exit’By Randall Kroszner
Published: August 11 2009 22:20 | Last updated: August 11 2009 22:20
Complicating central banks’ exit strategy, both in the 1930s and today, is fiscal policy. (Monetary policy was not alone to blame.) Ahead of the 1936 US election, a temporary, targeted “bonus” totalling more than 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product was paid out to first world war veterans, providing a fiscal stimulus to an already rapidly recovering economy. The Fed’s concern about the potential for monetary policy to add to this stimulus was not unjustified, for the economy grew extremely rapidly in 1936 (see chart 1), although the Fed’s response was far too strong.
Turning back to today, countries have committed to massive increases in fiscal expenditure (see chart 4), much of which is not going to be spent until 2010 or 2011. As economies begin to stabilise and grow, central banks will face a dilemma – is growth part of a sustainable recovery or due to a short-term impact of fiscal stimulus? If the former, then it is sensible to implement exit strategies from unusual accommodation; if not, then it might be appropriate to wait to see whether growth has taken root, which entails greater risks of inflation. Separating the impact of fiscal stimulus from sustainable economic growth to determine the time to begin to “exit” will be a key challenge for central banks during the next few years.
The writer is Norman R. Bobins professor of economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a former governor of the US Federal Reserve |