Out of control: Inflation

By: Casper de Vries, Erasmus University Rotterdam

How single minded monetary policy contributed to today's financial mess.

Time to stop forecasting, and to start thinking

By: Wolfgang Münchau

Forecasts that Obama will win the presidency, and that inflation is falling have in common that they mean nothing at all.

No single tactic will beat the subprime crisis

The subprime crisis is a massive macroeconomic shock in need of a determined policy response. But what kind? It will probably not require a symmetrical response across countries and policy instruments but a more targeted strategy

Rate cutting will not get us out of this mess

For over a decade central bankers have been overreacting to economic shocks, to the extent that their policies produced a massive asset bubble, which has been the root causes of the present financial crisis. Now that the Fed is about to cut interest rates again, we are repeating the same old mistakes.

Dollar’s last lap as the only anchor currency

Bretton Woods II, one of most influential theories about exchange rates in the age of globalisation is about to go up in smoke. We are in the last long lap of the dollar as the world’s only anchor currency. We do not yet fully comprehend the new era, but it is fair to say that it is not going to be Bretton Woods III.

Watch out! The Euro Area is getting more assertive

The trip to China by Trichet, Almunia and Juncker will not make much difference in terms of China's exchange rate policy. But it is a start of a more assertive representation of the euro area's best interests. And that is good news.