All Posts – Page 17 – Vanderbilt Business Review

Jul

22

2020

Emissions Bounce Back as Economies Reopen

All Posts, SustainabilityCOVID-19

As people around the world faced forced confinements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global greenhouse gas emissions fell as a result. A study led by climate scientist Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia published in the journal Nature estimated that emissions fell by 8% compared with 2019 levels. That drop brought emissions in line with their 2006 level. The researchers estimated that total 2020 emissions would fall by between 4 and 7% compared to last year. However, with communities reopening around the world, carbon emissions have begun to return, ticking back up to just 5% below 2019…

European Central Bank Ramps Up Asset Purchases in Light of Pandemic

All Posts, Economy and Government

On June 4, 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it would increase its envelope of asset purchases by €600 billion to a total of €1.35 trillion. The increased purchases will further the central bank's policy of monetary easing in order to help households and businesses deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase comes in response to disinflation and fears of a possible deflationary spiral. The ECB plans to continue asset purchases until it believes the coronavirus crisis is over and plans to reinvest any payments from maturing assets into further purchases. European interest rates will…

Negative Interest Rates: A Novel Solution or a Novelty Item?

All Posts, Economy and GovernmentCOVID-19

In the wake of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, some in the United States, including president Donald Trump, have called on the Federal Reserve to push interest rates below zero. Negative interest rates would be unprecedented in the US but they have become established monetary policy in Europe and Japan. Such rates represent a logical extension of expansionary monetary policy while also breaking key economic laws. This counterintuitive policy raises more questions than it appears to answer. How do negative interest rates work? could we really be paid to borrow money? and most importantly, can negative interest…