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In the'New Normal'central banks set their interest rate to zero and print money through massive quantitative easing, while finance ministries run huge fiscal deficits. Yet inflation remains minimal. Zero Interest Policy and the New Abnormal explains why. It also explains why the New Normal is really the New Abnormal, and why it can't last. This study traces the academic roots of the New Abnormal to a conceptual confusion about the'natural rates of interest', and postmodernism in macroeconomics, exemplified by the DSGE (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium) movement. It develops a theory of'existential risk'which is concerned with the collapse of political economies such the Bretton Woods system and the New Abnormal. The book demonstrates that existential risk expresses itself in the growing gap between the natural rate of interest, measured by the rate of return on capital, and the real rate of interest, as well as in the development of cryptocurrencies. Beenstock develops a theory of'kinetic inflation'based on Keynes'liquidity trap, which accounts for the absence of inflation in the New Abnormal, and predicts its outbreak when zero interest policy ends. He also explores the adverse social consequences of the New Abnormal for fertility, pensions, house prices, economic inequality, and intergenerational equity and establishes a causal link from the New Abnormal to Covid-19 mitigation policy, and from the latter to the intensification of the New Abnormal. Finally, it assesses the prospects for ending the New Abnormal, and an orderly return to the Old Normal. The alternative is to crash-out of the New Abnormal chaotically.

Before the Great Financial Crisis of 2008–09, significant reductions in official interest rates typically proved sufficient to generate sustainable economic recoveries from downturns. However, with economies and financial markets in freefall during the crisis despite a cut in interest rates to effectively zero, policymakers in some advanced economies launched a major new tool called quantitative easing (QE). This involved central banks purchasing huge amounts of financial assets. This book offers a thorough and perspicacious analysis of QE, which has become a recovery method of last resort. Whilst it was successful in averting another Great Depression and stimulating growth, it remains controversial and continues to promote widespread debate in economics, financial, and political-economy circles. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand central banking in the national economy.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, central banks created trillions of dollars of new money, and poured it into financial markets. ‘Quantitative Easing'(QE) was supposed to prevent deflation and restore economic growth. But the money didn't go to ordinary people: it went to the rich, who didn't need it. It went to big corporations and banks – the same banks whose reckless lending caused the crash. This led to a decade of stagnation, not recovery. QE failed. In this book, Frances Coppola makes the case for a ‘people's QE', in which the money goes directly to ordinary people and small businesses. She argues that it is the fairest and most effective way of restoring crisis-hit economies and helping to solve the long-term challenges of ageing populations, automation and climate change.

This book addresses the topical issue of whether the current environment in the US and other major countries, where quantitative easing is used to boost the economy, is conducive to the emergence of hyperinflation. This is a controversial and highly debated issue. Using both economics and history, the author challenges the view that quantitative easing will not lead to hyperinflation and argues that hyperinflation, or at least high inflation, is likely to appear eventually.The book examines all the propositions put forward for and against the eventuality of hyperinflation in the US, using illustrations based on actual and simulated data. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the current fiscal position of the US government, particularly the levels of external debt and unfunded liabilities, will not be rectified without resorting to inflationary financing. The book would be useful not only for policy makers and economists but also for non-specialist observers.

Volume 96 of Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis provides further insights to postcrisis developments in the global economic and financial environment. Risk Management Post Financial Crisis: A Period of Monetary Easing includes papers from leading authors from central banks, worldrenowned universities and international organisations. Topics and issues addressed by this volume include: an overview of advances in risk management in the post financial crisis environment, the impact that complexity present in financial returns now plays in measuring reporting and risk, the role that sentiment and herding plays in distorting prices in financial markets, the procyclical impact of Basel III including effects on capital requirements and bank balance sheets, central bank monetary policies and bank liquidity in a world without quantitative easing, credit risk assessment and bank lending, and changes in the structure of international financial markets, including the rise and impact of financial markets in China and those financial products denominated in RMB.

世界的な量的緩和競争の過熱に危険はないのか？ＥＣＢ、ＦＲＢ、ＢＯＥ、ＢＯＪ等による統計データと世界の論調を整理して紹介する。