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Negative nominal interest rates: History and current proposals

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  • Ilgmann, Cordelius
  • Menner, Martin
Abstract
Given the renewed interest in negative interest rates as a means for overcoming the zero bound on nominal interest rates, this article reviews the history of negative nominal interest rates and gives a brief survey over the current proposals that received popular attention in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007/08. It is demonstrated that taxing money proposals have a long intellectual history and that instead of being the conjecture of a monetary crank, they are a serious policy proposal. In a second step the article points out that, besides the more popular debate on a Gesell tax as a means to remove the zero bound on nominal interest rates, there is a class of neoclassical search-models that advocates a negative tax on money as efficiency enhancing. This strand of the literature has so far been largely ignored by the policy debate on negative interest rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilgmann, Cordelius & Menner, Martin, 2011. "Negative nominal interest rates: History and current proposals," CAWM Discussion Papers 43, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:43
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    1. Flirt z ujemnymi stopami procentowymi
      by k.Ned in Obserwator Finansowy on 2015-01-05 07:59:22
    2. The history of negative nominal interest rates
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2011-12-19 21:12:00

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    4. Meixing Dai & Fanny Loux, 2017. "Les taux d’intérêt nominaux négatifs sont-ils efficaces pour relancer la croissance des crédits et de l’économie ?," Bulletin de l'Observatoire des politiques économiques en Europe, Observatoire des Politiques Économiques en Europe (OPEE), vol. 36(1), pages 9-20, June.
    5. Ahmed Anwar, 2020. "From Keynes' Liquidity Preference to Gesell's Basic Interest," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 299, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    6. Damir Tokic, 2017. "Negative interest rates: Causes and consequences," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 243-254, July.
    7. Martin Menner, 2011. ""Gesell Tax" and Efficiency of Monetary Exchange," Working Papers. Serie AD 2011-26, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    8. Makoto Saito, 2021. "Central Bank Cryptocurrencies in a Competitive Equilibrium Environment: Can Strong Money Demand Survive in the Digital Age?," Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, in: Strong Money Demand in Financing War and Peace, pages 161-189, Springer.
    9. Degens, Philipp, 2013. "Alternative Geldkonzepte - ein Literaturbericht," MPIfG Discussion Paper 13/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    10. Meier, Samira & Rodriguez Gonzalez, Miguel & Kunze, Frederik, 2021. "The global financial crisis, the EMU sovereign debt crisis and international financial regulation: lessons from a systematic literature review," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Wenzlaff, Ferdinand & Kimmich, Christian & Koudela, Thomas & Richters, Oliver & Freydorf, Christoph & Schuster, Ludwig, 2012. "Wachstumszwang in der Geldwirtschaft? Theoretische Erwägungen," EconStor Research Reports 237053, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    12. Ansgar Belke & Jens Klose, 2012. "Modifying Taylor Reaction Functions in Presence of the Zero-Lower-Bound – Evidence for the ECB and the Fed," Ruhr Economic Papers 0343, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    13. Petr Wawrosz & Semen Traksel, 2023. "Negative Interest Rates and Its Impact on GDP, FDI and Banks’ Financial Performance: The Cases of Switzerland and Sweden," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-23, May.
    14. repec:zbw:rwirep:0343 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bucher, Monika & Neyer, Ulrike, 2014. "Der Einfluss des (negativen) Einlagesatzes der EZB auf die Kreditvergabe im Euroraum," DICE Ordnungspolitische Perspektiven 64, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    16. Freydorf, Christoph & Kimmich, Christian & Koudela, Thomas & Schuster, Ludwig & Wenzlaff, Ferdinand, 2012. "Wachstumszwänge in der Geldwirtschaft. Zwischenbericht der Wissenschaftlichen Arbeitsgruppe nachhaltiges Geld," EconStor Preprints 142471, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. Rehme, Günther, 2018. "On "rusting" money: Silvio Gesell's Schwundgeld reconsidered," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 233, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    18. Anwar Khayat, 2015. "Negative Policy Rates, Banking Flows and Exchange Rates," Working Papers halshs-01203609, HAL.
    19. Dermot Hodson, 2015. "Eurozone Governance: Deflation, Grexit 2.0 and the Second Coming of Jean-Claude Juncker," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53, pages 144-161, September.
    20. Anwar Khayat, 2015. "Negative Policy Rates, Banking Flows and Exchange Rates," AMSE Working Papers 1538, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised Sep 2015.
    21. Moid U. Ahmad & Hetti Arachchige Gamini Premaratne, 2018. "Effect of Low and Negative Interest Rates: Evidence from Indian and Sri Lankan Economies," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 6(2), pages 90-99, July.

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    Keywords

    negative interest rates; history of economic thought; Silvio Gesell; zero bound; search-theoretical models; monetary policy;
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