## What Future for Unconventional Monetary Policies

_IMF Blog, November 2, 2015_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Maurice Obstfeld
- Published: November 2, 2015

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### Framing questions and context
- Publication date: November 2, 2015.
- Key questions posed:
  - How quickly should the United States tighten monetary policy and exit from quantitative easing?
  - Is the neutral real interest rate lower than before the crisis?
  - Should we raise inflation targets?
  - What can we learn from the unconventional policies that emerging markets adopted during the crisis?
  - Are we entering an environment of global deflation? And if so, can the existing central bank toolkit stave off that threat?
- Contextual observations:
  - "Seven years after the crisis, the effects of unconventional monetary policies continue to be a matter of debate."
  - There is little consensus about both the effectiveness of these policies in promoting aggregate demand and about possible unintended side effects on financial stability.
  - Emerging market economies have felt spillovers from both the global financial crisis and unconventional monetary policies in advanced economies, often adopting their own unconventional credit and foreign-exchange policies; the effectiveness of those policies remains subject to debate.
  - The profession faces the challenge of understanding the risks of policy normalization and monetary policy divergence as monetary policies in major currency areas head in opposite directions.

### Purpose and goals of the Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference
- Conference title: “Unconventional Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies”.
- Conference dates: November 5-6, 2015.
- Stated aims:
  - Take stock of outstanding policy questions about unconventional monetary policies.
  - Gain a better understanding of the mechanisms at play and the tools available to policymakers.
  - Map the way forward on:
    - How unconventional monetary policies work.
    - Their interactions with other policies.
    - Their domestic side effects, including risks to financial stability.
    - Their spillovers to other countries.
    - The future of these policy tools.
    - The consequences of unconventional policies in emerging market economies.

### Program highlights and participants
- Program scale and composition:
  - The conference will feature thirteen excellent papers and discussants.
- Keynote and lectures:
  - Ben S. Bernanke, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will give the keynote Mundell-Fleming lecture, discussing aspects of the effects of United States monetary policy on the global economy, including so-called "currency wars", financial spillovers, and the dollar’s role.
- Concluding policy panel:
  - Claudio Borio (BIS)
  - Lael Brainard (Federal Reserve)
  - Paul Krugman (City University of New York and New York Times)
  - Adam Posen (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

### Access, dissemination, and participation
- Attendance invitation: Readers are encouraged to attend and contribute to the discussion.
- Remote access:
  - The papers will be available online.
  - Webcast availability: the Mundell-Fleming Lecture and the Economic Forum will be webcast at www.imf.org.
  - Social media: follow the conference on Twitter at #ARCPOLAK.

### Institutional note
- IMFBlog description: IMFBlog is a forum for the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and officials on pressing economic and policy issues of the day.
- IMF identity: The IMF, based in Washington D.C., is an organization of 191 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability around the world.
- Attribution of views: "The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF and its Executive Board."

*Source: What Future for Unconventional Monetary Policies, Maurice Obstfeld, November 2, 2015.*

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## References

- [IMF Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference](http://www.imf.org/external/np/res/seminars/2015/arc/)
- [www.imf.org](http://www.imf.org/)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2015/11/02/what-future-for-unconventional-monetary-policies_