Wages and Inflation: Let Workers Alone

[Note: this is a slightly edited ChatGPT translation of an article for the Italian daily Domani]

Last week’s piece of news is the gap that opened between the US central bank, the Fed, and the European and British central banks. Apparently, the three institutions have adopted the same strategy, deciding to leave interest rates unchanged, in the face of falling inflation and a slowdown in the economy. But, for central banks, what you say is just as important as what you do; and while the Fed has announced that in the coming months (barring surprises, of course) it will begin to loosen the reins, reducing its interest rate, the Bank of England and the ECB have refused to announce cuts anytime soon.

To understand why the ECB remains hawkish, one can read  the interview with  the Financial Times  of the governor of the Central Bank of Belgium, Pierre Wunsch, one of the hardliners within the ECB Council. Wunsch argues that, while inflation data is good (it is also worth noting that, as many have been saying for months, inflation continues to fall faster than forecasters expect), wage dynamics are a cause for concern. In the Eurozone, in fact, these rose by 5.3% in the third quarter of 2023, the highest pace in the last ten years. The Belgian Governor mentions the risk that this increase in wages will weigh on the costs of companies, inducing them to raise prices and triggering further wage demands; As long as wage growth is not under control, Wunsch concludes, the brakes must be kept on. Once again, the restrictive stance is justified by the risk of a price-wage spiral, that so far never materialized, despite having been evoked by the partisans of rate increases since 2021. Those who, like Wunsch, fear the wage-price spiral, cite the experience of the 1970s, when the wage surge had effectively fueled progressively out-of-control inflation. The comparison seems apt at first glance, given that in both cases it was an external shock (energy) that triggered the price increase. But, in fact, it was not necessary to wait for inflation to fall to understand that the risk of a wage-price spiral was overestimated and used by many as an instrument. Compared to the 1970s, in fact, many things have changed. I talk about this in detail  in Oltre le Banche Centrali, recently published by Luiss University Press (in Italian): Automatic indexation mechanisms have been abolished, the bargaining power of trade unions has greatly diminished and, in general, the precarization of work has reduced the ability of workers to carry out their demands. For these and other reasons, the correlation between prices and wages has been greatly reduced over three decades.

But the 1970s are actually the exception, not the norm. A recent study by researchers at the International Monetary Fund looks at historical experience and shows that, in the past, inflationary flare-ups have generally been followed with a delay by wages. These tend to change more slowly than prices, so that an increase in inflation is not followed by an immediate adjustment in wages and initially there is a reduction in the real wage (the wage adjusted for the cost of living). When, in the medium term, wages finally catch up with prices, the real wage returns to the equilibrium level, aligned with productivity growth. If the same thing were to happen at this juncture, the IMF researchers believe, we should not only expect, but actually hope for nominal wage growth to continue to be strong for some time in the future, now that inflation has returned to reasonable levels: looking at the data published by Eurostat, we observe that for the eurozone, prices increased by 18.5% from the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2023,  while wage growth stopped at 10.5%. Real wages, therefore, the measure of purchasing power, fell by 8.2%. Italy stands out: it has seen a similar evolution of prices (+18.9%), but an almost stagnation of wages (+5.8%), with the result that purchasing power has collapsed by 13%.

Things are worse than these numbers show. First, for convergence to be considered accomplished, real wages will have to increase beyond the 2021 levels. In countries where productivity has grown in recent years, the new equilibrium level of real wages will be higher. Second, even when wages have realigned with productivity growth, there will remain a gap to fill. During the current transition period, when real wages are below the equilibrium level, workers are enduring a loss of income that will not be compensated for (unless the real wage grows more than productivity for some time). From this point of view, therefore, it is important not only that the gap between prices and wages is closed, but that this happens as quickly as possible.

In short, contrary to what many (more or less in good faith) claim, the fact that at the moment wages are growing more than prices is not the beginning of a dangerous wage-price spiral and the indicator of a return of inflation; rather, it is the foreseeable second phase of a process of rebalancing that, as the IMF researchers point out, is not only normal but also necessary.

The conclusion deserves to be emphasized as clearly as possible: if the ECB or national governments tried to limit wage growth with restrictive policies, they would not only act against the interests of those who paid the highest price for the inflationary shock. But, in a self-defeating way, they would prevent the adjustment from being completed and delay putting once and for all the inflationary shock behind us.

On the Political Nature of Monetary Policy

I was intrigued by Munchau’s editorial on central bank independence, that appeared on today’s FT. Munchau argues that central banks’ choices are increasingly political in nature, especially if their mandate is broad, as is the case for example of the Fed. His argument is that a broad mandate implies tradeoffs, and as such it does not go well with central bank independence.

I must say I am unconvinced to say the least, on at least two levels.

First, I do not see how a strict mandate would make central bank choices less political in nature. It makes them more opaque, but by no means less political. I wrote about this in a paper on ECB action during the crisis, and more succinctly in an op-ed for Social Europe co-written with Yan Islam back in 2015.  Let me quote a few excerpts from that piece:

A dual mandate requiring the central bank to pursue two, sometimes conflicting, objectives forces the institution to make inherently political choices. Far from being a shortcoming, this allows for a more flexible and unbiased monetary policy. A central bank following a dual mandate will always be able to take an aggressive stance on inflation, if it deems this necessary. Appropriate choice of the weights given to employment and inflation would allow incorporation of any combination of the two objectives. […]

Inflation-targeting central banks, such as the ECB, de facto also target growth but timidly and without explicitly saying so. This leads to low reactivity and opaque communication, hampering in turn the capacity of central banks to manage expectations and effectively steer the economy. A good case in point is the ECB that – compared to the Fed – did “too little and too late” from 2009, amid a constant debate on whether the inflation-targeting mandate was being violated. […]

ECB opacity is intrinsically linked to the confusion between its mandate and its activities in the real world, and as such it cannot lead to any meaningful discussion but only to legalistic disputes on the definition of price stability, of how medium is the medium term and the like.

The main merit of a dual mandate is in fact that it lets the political nature of monetary policy emerge without ambiguities. It is indeed true that monetary policy with a dual mandate requires hard choices, just like those debated these days, and hence is political by its very nature. The point is, so is monetary policy with a simple inflation-targeting objective. The level of inflation targeted, and the choice of the instruments to attain it, is anything but neutral in terms of its consequences on the economy. Thus, an inflation-targeting central bank is as political in its actions as a bank following a dual mandate, the only difference being that In the former case the political nature of monetary policy is concealed behind a technocratic curtain.

In a sentence, we argued that monetary policy choices are always political, and as such they should be incorporated in the policy mix, without hiding behind what Yan and I called a technocratic illusion.

Munchau’s link between the broadness of the mandate and its political nature, is simplistic and in my opinion strongly misleading. In fact, we concluded back in 2015 that it is linked to a specific intellectual framework

The profound justification of an exclusive focus on price stability can only lie in the acceptance of a neoclassical view in which virtually powerless governments need to make little or no choices. Once we dismiss that platonic view, monetary policy acquires a political role, regardless of the mandate it is given.

The second reason why Munchau’s argument is unconvincing is the conclusion, somewhat implicit in his piece, that a central bank making political choices needs to be a “government agency”. Why is it so, exactly? I fail to see it. What matters is not that the central bank is controlled by the finance ministry, but that it is accountable, like any other actor doing policy, in a system of well functioning checks and balances.

Once we recognize that a central bank has a political role, we need to make sure first, that its mandate is not falsely perceived as technocratic; and second, that its actions are properly embedded in a balanced policy mix, in which there is coordination with, not subordination to, the other branches of government. It seems to me that the US institutional system comes pretty close to this. The same cannot be said for the eurozone.

Fed Debates and the EMU Technocratic Illusion

Thanks to the invaluable Economist’s View, I have read with lots of interest the speech that newly appointed Federal Reserve Board Member Lael Brainard gave last Monday. The speech is a plea for holding on rate rises, and uses a number of convincing arguments. Much has been said on the issue (give a look at comments by Tim Duy and Paul Krugman). I have little to add, were it not for the point I made a number of times, that the extraordinarily difficult task of central bankers would be made substantially easier if fiscal policy were used more actively.

What I’d like to express here is my jealousy for the discussions (and the confrontation) that we observe in the US. These discussions are a sideproduct, a very positive one if you ask me, of the institutional design of the Fed. I just returned from a series of engaging policy meetings on central bank policy in Costa Rica, facilitated by the local ILO office, where I pleaded for the introduction of a dual mandate.

I wrote a background paper (that can be seen here) in which my main argument is that a central bank following a dual mandate will always be able to take an aggressive stance on inflation, if it deems it necessary to do so. Appropriate choice of the weights given to employment and inflation would allow incorporation of any combination of the two objectives. A good case in point are the United States, where the Federal Reserve under Chairman Volcker embarked on a bold disinflation program in the early 1980s when the country had just adopted the dual mandate. No choice of weights, on the other hand, would allow a central bank following an inflation targeting mandate to explicitly target employment as well. Thus, the dual mandate can embed inflation targeting strategies, while the converse is not true. In terms of policy effectiveness, therefore, the dual mandate is a superior institutional arrangement.

I also cited evidence showing, and here we come at my jealousy for the Fed, that inflation targeting central banks, like the ECB, de facto target the output gap, but timidly and without explicitly saying so. This leads to low reactivity and opaque communication, that hamper the capacity of central banks to manage expectations and effectively steer the economy. I am sure that those who followed the EMU policy debate in the past few years will know what I am talking about.

One may argue that the cacophony currently characterizing the Federal Reserve Board is hardly positive for the economy, and that in terms of managing expectations, lately, the Fed did not excel. This is undeniable, and is the result of the Fed groping its way out of unprecedented policy measures. The difference with the ECB is that for the Fed the opacity results from an ongoing debate on how to best attain an objective that is clear and shared. We are not there yet, but the debate will eventually lead to an unambiguous (and hopefully appropriate) policy choice. The ECB opacity, is intrinsically linked to the confusion between its mandate and its actual action, and as such it cannot lead to any meaningful discussion, but just to legalistic disputes on the definition of price stability, of how medium is the medium term and the like.

And I can now come to my final point: a dual mandate has the merit to let the political nature of monetary policy emerge without ambiguities. It is indeed true that monetary policy with a dual mandate requires hard choices, as the ones that are debater these days, and hence is political in nature. The point is, that so is monetary policy with a simple inflation targeting objective. The level of inflation targeted, and the choice of the instruments to attain it, are all but neutral in terms of their consequences on the economy, most notably on the distribution of resources among market participants. Thus, an inflation targeting central bank is as political in its actions as a bank following a dual mandate, the only difference being that In the former case the political nature of monetary policy is concealed behind a technocratic curtain.
The deep justification of exclusive focus on price stability can only lie in the acceptance of a neoclassical platonic world in which powerless governments need to make no choice. Once we dismiss that platonic view, monetary policy acquires a political role, regardless of the mandate it is given. A dual mandate has the merit of making this choice explicit, and hence to dispel the technocratic illusion.

I am not saying there would be no issues with the adoption of a dual mandate. The institutional design should be carefully crafted, in order to ensure that independence is maintained, and accountability (currently very low indeed) is enhanced. What I am saying is that after seven years (and counting) of dismal economic performance, and faced with strong arguments in favour of a broader central bank mandate, EMU policy makers should be engaged in discussions at least as lively as the ones of their counterparts in Washington. And yet, all is quiet on this side of the ocean… Circulez y a rien à voir

 

Free Riders in Frankfurt

The Financial Times highlights one of the most striking conclusions of the latest ECB Financial Stability Report (full document here). The ECB, using FT’s words, “issued a stark warning over the threat posed by the scaling back of US monetary stimulus, calling on eurozone policy makers to do more to prepare for the market shocks from Federal Reserve tapering.”

There are of course many reasons why a change of policy of the largest world economy is closely monitored because of its potential impact. The ECB statements nevertheless are striking to me, because they are further confirmation of the small country syndrome that I pointed out in the past.

Quantitative Easing has been pivotal in ensuring that the hasty reversal of the fiscal stance in the United States did not dip their economy into a new recession. One may argue that today’s US economy is not sufficiently robust for exiting monetary stimulus. But it is sooner or later going to happen. The rest of the world has been free riding on Fed’s policies. In particular, the eurozone has benefited from QE in a context of sharp and pro-cyclical austerity, and very timid monetary policy.

Here is the statement I would have expected from the ECB: “The eurozone, the second largest economy of the world, has benefited from exceptional measures implemented by the Fed. This helped our economies and our financial markets in the context of a difficult consolidation process. Domestic factors in the United States will most likely cause a reversal of these policies. It is time European policy makers stand on their legs. As our economies persist in a state of chronic weakness, the ECB will consider its own quantitative easing program, to compensate for tapering in the United States, and provide to the European economy the environment it needs to rebound”

Such a statement, that I would find reasonable and balanced (maybe even too prudent), is nevertheless revolutionary nonsense in European policy circles. Instead we had the same old “copy-and-paste” demand to EMU  countries of structural reforms and stable macroeconomic policies (read austerity). Not a single hint of even remotely possible non orthodox policies here at home. The sad truth is that we are structurally incapable of finding within our economy and our institutions the instruments to ensure growth and prosperity. We are structurally free riders. We siphon aggregate demand from the rest of the world running increasing current account balances, and we are not capable of implementing an autonomous monetary policy.

The world’s second largest economic area remains a parasite of the global economy, and it is incapable of living up to its responsibilities. Nothing good can come out of this.

Does Central Bank Independence Need Inflation Targeting?

Two articles on today’s Financial Times  puzzle me. The first (Weidmann warns of currency war risk) offers yet another example of how economic analysis sometimes leaves the way to ideological beliefs. The Bundesbank’s president argues (as he already did in the past) that giving up inflation targeting hampers central bank independence. How? Why? He does not bother explaining.

What I think he has in mind is that once the objective of the central bank goes beyond strict inflation targeting, monetary policy needs an arbitrage between often conflicting objectives (typically unemployment and inflation). It is the essence of the dual mandate. This of course moves monetary policy out of the realm of technocratic choice, and makes it a political institution (Stephen King explains it nicely). I would argue that this is normal once we abandon the ideal-type of frictionless neoclassical economics, and we accept that we may have a tradeoff between inflation and unemployment.  But this is not the issue here. The issue, and the puzzle, is why transforming the choice from technocratic to political, should necessarily lead to giving up independence.

Quantitative Easing and Lender of Last Resort: Lots of Confusion under the Sky

I have read an interesting article by Wolfgang Münchau, on the Financial Times.  To summarize, Münchau argues that because of politician’s complacency, there is a chance that the new OMTs program launched by the ECB will never be used, and hence prove ineffective in boosting the economy. He therefore argues that the ECB should have done like the Fed, and announce an unconditional bond purchase program (private and public alike).

The piece is interesting because Münchau is at the same time  right, and off the target. It is worth trying to clarify.