Per Jansson: Is it time to review the division of roles in macroeconomic policy?

Speech by Mr Per Jansson, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at the Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, 8 December 2021.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
09 December 2021

Accompanying slideshttps://www.bis.org/review/r211209a_slides.pdf

Sometimes, developments can make you start pondering somewhat larger and more fundamental issues than you might usually do. This is how it has been for me recently. The question I would like to address today is whether it might be time for us to modify our view of the appropriate division of roles in macroeconomic policy, by which I mean our overall fiscal and monetary policy. I am not entirely sure of the answer myself, although I am inclined to believe that it is something we should probably do. In this talk, I will try to explain my preliminary and probably rather unfinished thoughts.

What I am quite sure of, however, is that we have reached a point where it is time for us to start discussing what an appropriate division of macroeconomic roles would be. I am glad to say that the number of articles touching upon the subject has increased recently, and I hope that this speech will contribute further to this discussion.

But let me take a step back and start from scratch.