Reserve Bank Bulletin released

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NEWS RELEASE
Date 30 September 2009
Time 9.00am

Reserve Bank Bulletin released

Strengthening the economy in light of the economic and financial crisis, and lessons that can be learned from history, are the focus of the September 2009 Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, released today.

The issue opens with an article by Kevin Hoskin and Stuart Irvine about the minimum capital levels that the four largest banks in New Zealand need to hold, under the Basel II international bank capital framework. A sound financial system requires banks to hold sufficient capital at all times.

Greater transparency in fiscal policy is the focus of the second article. Eric Leeper, Professor of Economics at Indiana University, discusses how enhanced transparency could make fiscal policy more predictable and effective, similar to the way in which greater transparency about monetary policy around the world has improved the effectiveness of monetary policy.

Matthew Wright focuses on the lessons that can be learned from history by discussing in the third article the socio-economic and political aspects of the 1930s Great Depression..

Our fourth article is an interview with Michael Bordo, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Monetary and Financial History at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Professor Bordo talks about his research on financial crises, New Zealand's financial vulnerability, and challenges in handling the financial crisis.

The fifth article is the text of a public speech delivered in Wellington by Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics, to mark the occasion of the Reserve Bank's 75th Anniversary this year. Howard Davies looks at the various parties involved in the current crisis and asks: whodunnit?

The Bulletin concludes with the paper for a speech given by Governor Alan Bollard in July 2009, about the recovery from the current crisis. The Governor looks at the impact of the crisis on New Zealand, and at the factors that will promote sustainable growth and reduce the New Zealand economy's vulnerability in the future.

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