Jean Barthélemy, Eric Mengus, Guillaume Plantin, (2020), “Central bank independence at risk: Low rates, new risks“, VoxEU, 21 January
Real interest rates are at historically low levels in advanced economies. This column looks at the implications for central bank independence. It argues that low rates, even though they relax the budget constraint of the public sector, will not necessarily strengthen central bank independence. Quite counterintuitively, in the current context of low inflation, preserving central bank independence may require that the public deficit be financed with helicopter money, rather than government debt, to prevent the government from entering into uncontrollable spending.
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