Two members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale, voted to raise interest rates this month. This was the first time any member has voted for a rate rise since July 2011, when Martin Weale also voted for a rate increase. A key factor for those arguing to raise rates now is lags: “Since monetary policy …. operate[s] only with a lag, it was desirable to anticipate labour market pressures by raising bank rate in advance of them.”
The Bank of England’s latest forecast assumes interest rates rising gradually from 2015. It also shows inflation below target throughout. The implication would seem to be that the MPC members who voted for the rate increase do not believe the forecast. But it could also be that they are more worried about risks that inflation will go above target than risks that it will stay below, much as the ECB always appears to be.
I like to apply a symmetry test in these situations. Imagine the economy is just coming out of a sustained boom. Interest rates, as a result, are high. Growth has slowed down, but the output gap is still positive. Unemployment is rising, but is still low (say 4%) and below estimates of the natural rate. Wage inflation is high as a result, and real wages had been increasing quite rapidly for a number of years. Consumer price inflation is above target, and the forecast for inflation in two years time is that it will still be above target.
In these circumstances, would you expect some MPC members to argue that now is the time to start reducing interest rates? Would you expect them to ignore the fact that price inflation is above target, wage inflation is high, the output gap is positive and unemployment is below the natural rate, and discount the forecast that inflation will still be above target in two years time? There is always a chance that they might be right to do so, but can you imagine it happening?
You could? Now can you also imagine large numbers of financial sector economists and financial journalists cheering them on?
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