Economics research a winner
Research by a former Cambridge High School student is being applauded by the global banking community.
Dr Leo Krippner has been awarded this year’s Economics in Central Banking Award.
London-based Central Banking Publications gives the award annually to a person who makes ‘‘the most significant contribution to economics in the field of central banking’’.
Central Banking Publications is a financial publisher specialising in public policy and financial markets, with emphasis on central banks, international financial institutions and financial market infrastructure and regulation.
Its award for economics recognised some of those seeking to redesign the old frameworks.
But Krippner has sought to improve understanding of unconventional monetary policy – an area becoming more conventional by the day, demanding analysis to match.
Krippner is a senior adviser in the economics department at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
He joined the research team of the economics department in 2008.
He had previously worked in the Reserve Bank’s financial markets department and in private sector funds management.
Krippner earned a PhD in Economics at the University of Waikato in 2007.
He leads the debate on how central bank economists should think about unconventional monetary policies, through his work on term structure modelling.
‘‘Simply put, term structure modelling is a mathematical way of representing interest rates for different times to maturity – like mortgage or deposit rates for six months, one year, three years,’’ said Krippner.
‘‘A model doesn’t represent them perfectly, but it does provide useful information on why interest rates of different maturities differ and how people and businesses think they are likely to evolve.
‘‘Such information is important to central banks, like our Reserve Bank, because interest rates influence the decisions of borrowers and savers, which in turn influences outcomes for the exchange rate, economic activity, and inflation.’’
Krippner remains humbled by the recognition but says his subject is both fascinating and highly relevant to be involved in, given the global environment and its impact on the New Zealand economy.