Interdisciplinary Seminar in Economic History: "Central banks and the absorption of international shocks (1891-2019)"
06/05/2025 (Seminars)
Bank of Greece, DIESOI
The Historical Archives of the Bank of Greece, in the context of the Interdisciplinary Seminar in Economic History (DIESOI), jointly organised with the Athens University of Economics and Business and Panteion University, invite you to the lecture entitled:
"Central banks and the absorption of international shocks (1891-2019)"
Speaker: Matthias Morys (University of York)
A few words on the topic:
This study is a joint work of the speaker Matthias Morys with Guillaume Bazot (University Paris 8) and Eric Monnet (Paris School of Economics, EHESS, CEPII and CEPR). Their research focuses on how central banks have used their balance sheet to absorb international monetary shocks since the late 19th century, thereby regaining some monetary policy autonomy in a context of financial openness. If the uncovered interest rate parity does not hold, an increase in the leading international interest rate may push up domestic interest rates in both fixed and floating exchange rate regimes. Central banks can partially insulate domestic short-term interest rates from this increase by expanding domestic assets. With a fixed exchange rate, this is in addition to the sterilization of foreign exchange interventions. Accounting for the response of central bank balance sheets to an exogenous international shock sheds light on some puzzling behavior of interest rates and exchange rates across international monetary regimes in history. This study is based on a new monthly dataset of central bank balance sheets, macroeconomic, and financial variables for 23 countries since 1891 (Discussion Paper: https://cepr.org/publications/dp19646)
The sessions are held between 17:00-19:00 at the Museum of the Bank of Greece, 3, Amerikis Street, Athens, and are open to the public, without requiring prior registration. The lecture will be delivered in English.
The complete programme of upcoming lectures is available on the website of the Interdisciplinary Seminar in Economic History.
Relevant link:
Poster of the event