Recent Articles

Box X: Pensions, Savings and Investment 

By Andrew Smithers  Published by the NIESR in their Autumn 2024 UK Economic Outlook on 6th November 2024. Introduction  This box picks up on two sessions of discussion involving an invited group of those working in financial services, organised by the NIESR,...

Risks facing central banks: action and inaction

Unlike Fed policy in the 1990s, central bank actions this century do not appear overly accommodative, writes Andrew Smithers The aims of economic policy are broadly agreed, with success defined as brisk growth combined with low and stable levels of unemployment and...

Interesting Times

We Live in Interesting Times.  The Stock Market’s Response to Changes in Commercial Banks’ Reserves.  Recent Experience.   The US stock market has moved since mid-2020 with changes in the level of commercial banks’ reserves with the Federal Reserve, as Chart...

How Economic Theory Went Wrong

American Affairs • Spring 2024 The full article is available here. american_affairs_article_spring2024Download

Improving Economic Policy

World Economics • Vol. 24 • No. 2 • April–June 2023 Key Points The consensus model (CM) holds that there is only one equilibrium that needs to be maintained for economic stability. This follows, as a matter of logical necessity, from the model's fundamental...

Economic Management in a multiple Equilibria Economy PIDE Webinar

Economic Management in a multiple Equilibria Economy Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) hosted a webinar on the topic withSpeaker: Andrew Smithers, Founder Smithers & Co, Author. Moderator: Dr. nadeem Ul Haque (Vice Chancellor - PIDE)  

Extending the liabilities’ time horizon is key to pensions reform

From Andrew Smithers, London W8Published in the FT 14 June, 2023 Martin Wolf is correct when he writes that “reforming the failing pensions system is a priority” for the UK (Opinion, June 12). The essential change is to the economic theory used. To achieve the full...

Zombie Companies, Low Investment and Low Interest Rates

World Economics • Vol. 23 • No. 4 • October–December 2022 Key Points The number of zombies has risen this century and growth has slowed. Both have a common cause in the bonus culture but, unlike Japan after 1990, there is no direct causal link. Ultra-low interest...

Podcast: The Road to Economic Stability ft. Andrew Smithers

Ideas Lab Series No. 5 Today, we are joined by Andrew Smithers, Author, Economist and Founder of Smithers & Co, to discuss how we can achieve economic stability, based on his book, “The Economics of the Stock Market”. We address the Q Ratio and why it is important...

The Stock Market Model: A New Foundation for Economic and Monetary Policy.

Economic policy aims to preserve stability by keeping inflation stable and unemployment at historically low levels. Decisions about how to achieve these aims are inevitably based on some theo-ry, and these theories fall into two main groups: those which are usually...

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