MONETARY AND EXCHANGE RATE POLICY UNDER FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION
The issue of financial globalization and openness is closely related to the choice of ERR and the conduct of monetary policy. The essence of this relation was developed in the 1960s by Mundell and Fleming as the ‘impossible trinity’ or ‘policy trilemma’ (Fleming, 1962; Mundell, 1968). The trilemma states that it is only possible to attain two of the three policy goals: financial integration, exchange rate stability, and monetary auton-omy. A country can have closed financial markets and be able to conduct autonomous monetary policy and have a fixed exchange rate. Or, it can have a floating ERR in as-sociation with monetary independence and financial in-tegration. Or, finally, it can give up monetary policy and pursue exchange rate stability (pegged ERR) and finan-cial integration. Therefore, if a country chooses the path of financial integration, it has to either give up monetary independence or choose a floating ERR.
‘The Impossible Trinity (aka The Policy Trilemma)’ by Aizenman discusses this policy trilemma by reviewing the configurations chosen by countries since 1970 and surveying the empirical literature dealing with the evo-lution of ERRs. He also discusses the challenges faced by countries that have been navigating the trilemma throughout the globalization process. The author con-cludes with remarks on the future of the international fi-nancial architecture and the challenges posed by the trilemma in this context.
‘Financial Globalization and Monetary Policy’ by Kamin addresses two important questions regarding monetary policy in light of the restrictions imposed by the trilemma. First, has financial globalization materially increased the influence of external developments on do-mestic monetary conditions? Second, has it reduced the influence of central banks over economic conditions in their own country? The chapter focuses on a key channel of the monetary transmission mechanism: the control of long-term interest rates. It reviews the evidence on whether globalization is causing domestic long-term rates to be more vulnerable to external shocks and less influenced by actions of the national monetary authority. It also addresses the determination of the short-term in-terest rate, considering the extent to which that control is affected by the ERR and by international financial inte-gration. The author stresses that, even though the evi-dence does not show that central banks have lost their ability to affect short-term and thus long-term interest rates in their economy, globalization does appear to be complicating their monetary policy choices by more forcefully subjecting domestic economic and financial conditions to external shocks.
CRISES 9
The interest rate parity (IRP) relation is one of the most relied upon indicators of financial globalization. When the parity holds, covered yields are identical on assets that are similar in all important aspects (such as risk, liquidity) except currency denomination. ‘Interest Rate Parity’ by Levich reviews the theoretical basis and historical origins of the IRP relationship. It introduces the idea of limits to arbitrage and other factors often associated with parity deviations and presents empirical evidence on whether the parity always holds. Also, more recent evidence of de-viations during the global financial crisis and possible ex-planations are discussed. The author concludes that in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, currency bid-ask spreads have widened, counterparty risks seem greater and more uncertain, and in many cases, risk capital is more scarce and expensive. In this setting, deviations from covered interest parity (CIP) have widened consid-erably compared to a decade ago.
The challenge for researchers as well as practitioners is, however, to accurately measure and price the costs of strategies based on deviations from CIP. Observed devi-ations from CIP are not necessarily violations of market efficiency, but can reflect the implicit additional cost and risk of trying to utilize the lower-cost or higher-yielding currency on a covered basis. Measuring those costs and recalibrating the efficiency and mobility of interna-tional capital markets are new challenges for financial economists.
The choice of the ERR is another side of the policy tri-lemma and has direct implications for the evolution of key nominal variables (inflation, relative prices) and, as a result, for output growth and volatility and income distribution. Moreover, it might affect many other policy areas, such as trade (through real exchange rate levels and stability) and finance (as a peg might foster financial intermediation at the cost of incurring currency imbal-ances). ‘Exchange Rate Regimes’ by Levy-Yeyati deals with the identification of de facto ERR (understood as the policymaker’s decision through the empirical char-acterization of the exchange rate behavior) and the chan-nels through which the ERR might influence economic outcomes. He traces the history of ERRs in the post Bret-ton Woods years and takes stock of the current state of the ERR debate. The author states that the debate on ERRs is far from closed, as the pros and cons of alterna-tive systems vary with both country characteristics and the global context. In the past, exchange rate anchors were popular in developing countries in the context of high inflation and partial dollar indexation. But the re-cent deleveraging and dedollarization process in many of these economies has increased the scope for flexible exchange rates and allowed the exchange rate to play more of its natural, countercyclical role. The fact that most medium and large developing economies prefer a flexible exchange rate simply reflects this evolution.
In practice, many countries still have fixed ERRs. This choice might have to do with the attempts to reduce mac-roeconomic volatility or to avoid the risks of currency fluctuations, including appreciations. But some coun-tries take a step forward and not only fix their currencies but actually adopt the currency of a neighbor, or several countries adopt a new currency, thus creating a currency union. Currency unions may induce gains in trade and financial integration, as transaction costs and currency risks are eliminated.
‘Currency Unions’ by Santos Silva and Tenreyro crit-ically reviews the recent literature on currency unions and discusses the methodological challenges posed by empirical assessments of their costs and benefits. The au-thors find that in terms of trade gains, currency unions are associated with large increases in the volume of inter-national trade for small and relatively less developed countries, but that the evidence for countries in the euro-zone (the largest currency block) shows only small effects. Nonetheless, the introduction of the euro has produced important changes in financial integration, particularly through cross-border holdings of bonds and equity. The authors conclude that a unified frame-work needs to be developed to help to move the theory of currency unions beyond an enumeration of the gains and costs into a broader assessment of their desirability.
As mentioned earlier, financial dollarization plays a role in the choice of monetary and exchange rate policies adopted by countries with large dollarization, creating challenges that need to be addressed. ‘Financial Dollar-ization’ by Ize takes on this subject, reviewing recent trends and comparing the relative magnitudes of differ-ent types of dollarization. It also discusses the factors un-derpinning dollarization using a taxonomy derived from a bicurrency lending equilibrium, as well as the potential costs and risks of dollarization and its policy implica-tions. The author concludes that the recent gradual decline in financial dollarization is good news. It con-firms what the theory would predict on the causes of dollarization and relieves some of the anxiety about how to contain the costs and risks of dollarization.