Education: A Better Tomorrow

The real effects of monetary policy in the European Union: what are the differences?

The advent of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) scheduled for the beginning of 1999 has sparked off a debate about the best way of conducting monetary policy in the euro area. One dimension of this discussion concerns the preferred framework for conducting monetary policy-that is, about whether the European Central Bank (ECB) ought to target inflation, monetary aggregates, or the exchange rate. A second is about differences in the effects of changes in monetary policy on activity in different EU countries, related to differences in the transmission mechanism.

Opinions have tended to be divided on the question of the preferred monetary policy framework for the euro area, although recently, there appears to be a consensus emerging in favor of informal inflation targeting, accompanied by monitoring of monetary aggregates and other indicators. In any event, policy discussions have in general tended to focus less on questions relating to the real effects of monetary policy in the EU than on the issue of the appropriate framework for conducting monetary policy in the euro area. This may be partly due to the fact that many of the issues pertaining to identification of the monetary transmission mechanism tend to be econometric rather than economic. Nevertheless, a proper understanding of possible differences in the effects of changes in monetary policy on activity among the EU countries is crucial for an appreciation of the difficulties that may arise from the implementation of a unified monetary policy throughout the euro area. And this issue is the main focus of the paper.

Choosing a Degree Program

When you are making an important decision of selecting the right degree program, it is primarily important to consider the goal of that degree. In the past, students opted for subjects and fields that interested them. There were and still are, certain careers that demand only a specific level of competency and knowledge by virtue of a degree, thus, allowing students to investigate degree programs that they find academically interesting and challenging and not necessarily with a specific career in mind. But, with the increasingly saturated job markets and the current economic crisis, a high premium is placed on expertise through the right degree program and training. The job market is getting more and more competitive and specialized fields typically require an equally specialized degree in order to be successful.

Once you have decided on a career, the next question to tackle is then which degree to opt for. There a number of key factors to consider while doing so. Firstly, you will have to decide whether it is necessary and more practical to pursue a Certificate, Associate, or Bachelor education, or if a Master and Doctorate degree is what will make the difference to your future job prospects. Keep in mind your time commitments, monetary constraints as well as your practical academic goals when making your final choice and ask yourself the following questions:

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Does monetary policy have asymmetric effects on stock returns

IT HAS BEEN OF GREAT interest to both macroeconomists and financial economists of whether monetary policy affects stock returns. A number of studies have empirically investigated the effects of monetary policy on stock returns. Using money aggregate data as a measure of money supply, some empirical studies agree that stock returns lag behind changes in monetary policy; for instance, see Keran (1971), Homa and Jaffee (1971), and Hamburner and Kochin (1972). In contrast, Cooper (1974), Pesando (1974), Rozeff (1974), and Rogalski and Vinso (1977) show that there is no significant forecasting power of past changes in money. Ever since the seminal paper by Bernanke and Blinder (1992), the Federal funds rate has been the most widely used measure of monetary policy. As such, the relationship between monetary policy and stock returns has been reexamined by using the interest rate instrument in the financial literature. Thorbecke (1997) and Patelis (1997) demonstrate that shifts in monetary policy help to explain U.S. stock returns. Conover, Jensen, and Johnson (1999) show that foreign stock returns generally react both to local and U.S. monetary policy.

Two important contributions to the literature on the effects of monetary policy on the stock market have been made. The first one emphasizes the roles of financial markets’ expectations about the future course of monetary policy. Bernanke and Kuttner (2003) extract unanticipated monetary policy from Federal funds futures and find that monetary policy surprises appear to have a significant effect on equity prices through changes in the equity premium. The second focus is on the prospect of endogeneity. Rigobon and Sack (2003) show that the causality between interest rates and stock prices may run in both directions. After accounting for this endogeneity, they find a significant monetary policy response to the stock market.

Education: A Better Tomorrow

The real effects of monetary policy in the European Union: what are the differences?

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Does monetary policy have asymmetric effects on stock returns

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