There is a considerable amount of literature arguing that economics and business journalism is growing. This subfield of journalism is important as economics issues impact on everyday lives of the people. Media have an important role to inform people about the economy and give them a voice to take part in public debates. The down side though is that economics journalism is criticised for not serving the public well in this aspect. Evidence suggests that economics journalism lost its critical character and that there is closer in economics debates. Using content analysis, this study examines coverage of inflation as reported by South African print media. Three major findings emerged: 1) Evidence shows that there are a variety of cases of inflation. 2) There are also similarities among newspapers on what they view as causing inflation. 3) However, media do not draw sources from all sectors of society. The elite, who are educated people and government officials, are over-accessed while the ordinary citizens - although also affected by inflation – are marginalized. Company and government sources top source lists in the media. It is argued that sources play an important role in shaping the news content. They do so by identifying problems and prescribing potential solutions. They set parameters and define terms of reference. However, media also play a mediating role. They do so by selecting sources and structuring sources in stories. They may chose to quote or report what their sources say and even comment on it. This study concludes that in South Africa ordinary citizens have no voices in economics debates. Media used bureaucratic sources only and that is a consonant agenda on inflation coverage amongst newspapers. The heavy reliance on bureaucratic sources and the exclusion of some sectors of society in sources lists raises questions about impartiality of these sources on issues relating to their organisations and institutions. These are not viable sources that could provide information that could expose abuse of power.

Since the 1970s, the international economic system has become prone to the volatility and undue effects associated with booms and busts. This forty year period spanning the present has exhibited restrained growth and repressive economic development. Critical changes to the system are presented by the transition from "Fordism" to the post 1970s neoliberal regime and the globalization of world markets. Underpinning this transformation is an ideological shift towards free market capitalism and the adoption of "reduced form" market models. These "reduced form" models appear to hinder economic sustainability as their grounding in economics fails to account for real economic activity. This thesis aims to provide a more holistic perception of sustainability, one that provides a sound basis on which to develop sustainable economic policy. The Regulationist Approach presents the requisite understanding of economic sustainability required within this research. The inclusion of economic, historical and socio-political fields of research proposes a wider understanding of the political economy and sustainability. The application of the Regulation Approach to the South African economy illustrates many problem areas that require attention. The examination found that firstly, aggregate demand in the South African economy was unsustainable due to the debt driven nature of demand under the asset price bubble of the mid to late 2000s. Secondly, aggregate supply also proved unsustainable as government is failing to provide any substantive growth within important sectors of the economy such as education and the provision of general services. Furthermore, the adoption of inflation targeting in South Africa poses a barrier to sustained economic growth as it focuses singularly on price inflation. The "reduced form" model of inflation targeting fails to account for market failures and a number of vital indicators of sustainability most notably, debt levels and asset prices. The inclusion of these indicators, and financial stability more generally, are found to provide a more holistic and sustainable approach to macroeconomic policymaking.

My dissertation combines structural macroeconomic models with analyses of macro and micro data and broadly contributes to two research agendas. The first relates to the channels through which monetary policy impacts the economy. The second aims to understand how heterogeneity observed at the micro level affects the economy. The first two chapters, "Monetary Policy and Heterogeneous Mortgage Refinancing" and "A Model of Heterogeneous Mortgage Refinancing," focus on the refinancing channel of monetary policy. Since fixed-rate mortgages are the most significant source of household debt in the U.S., monetary policy can stimulate household consumption and wealth by lowering mortgage costs through refinancing. The potency of this channel will depend on households’ outstanding mortgage rates, as well as their willingness and ability to refinance. I combine empirical patterns from monthly loan-level data (from joint work with A.Burya) and a heterogeneous agent model of mortgage refinancing to show that credit score heterogeneity dampens the aggregate consumption response to monetary policy by 11%. The third and fourth chapters, "Anchoring of Inflation Expectations: An Empirical Test" and "Anchoring of Inflation Expectations: Role of Risk Premia," study the effectiveness of monetary policy in the U.S. by exploring the degree to which inflation expectations are anchored. If inflation expectations are well-anchored, then the Fed has a higher capacity to support aggregate employment when necessary, without destabilizing inflation. In joint work with A. Burya and S. Mishra, I construct a proxy of the change in the Fed's aggressiveness to inflation and develop an empirical test for inflation expectations anchoring. The proxy of the changes in the Fed's aggressiveness is equal to changes in expectations of future policy rates that are unexplained by the information contained in the inflation news release. The empirical test involves examining the sensitivity of inflation expectations to monetary policy shocks conditional on that proxy. I then use a measure of inflation expectations adjusted for inflation and liquidity risk premia to demonstrate that bond yield data in the U.S. is consistent with the anchoring of the long-term inflation expectations.

Is inflation targeting an appropriate framework for monetary policy? Experience from the inflation-targeting countries countries are optimistic about inflation targeting as a monetary-policy framework. South Africa is also following this trend. The international literature review of the topic offers lessons to be learnt from the common experience of the countries considered. It shows that inflation targeting is not a universal remedy to modern economic ills -- there is an emerging danger of assigning monetary policy a larger role than that which it can perform; a danger of expecting monetary policy to accomplish tasks that it cannot achieve; and a danger of preventing monetary policy from making the contribution that it is capable of doing. Therefore, inflation targeting cannot address all the macroeconomic problems that face many countries, except for inflation. Nonetheless, it plays a crucial role in improving macroeconomic performance. / Economics / M.A. (Economics)

The main purpose of this study is to empirically assess the relationship between inflation and economic growth in Ethiopia using quarterly dataset from 1992Q1 to 2010Q4. In doing so, an interesting policy issue arises. What is the threshold level of inflation for the Ethiopian economy? Based on the Engle-Granger and Johansen co-integration tests it is found out that there is a positive long-run relationship between inflation and economic growth. The error correction models show that in cases of short-run disequilibrium, the inflation model adjusts itself to its long-run path correcting roughly 40% of the imbalance in each quarter. In addition, based on the conditional least square technique, the estimated threshold model suggests 10% as the optimal level of inflation that facilitates growth. An inflation level higher or lower than the threshold level of inflation affects the economic growth negatively and hence fiscal and monetary policy coordination is vital to keep inflation at the threshold. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

M.Com. (Economic Development and Policy Issues) / Monetary policy is not only the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, but is furthermore a sufficient tool to overcome the problem of economic growth and unemployment. This can take place when the policy instruments – interest rates (Repo) and money supply growth (M3) – have significant effects on these macroeconomic variables. However, the issue of the efficacy of monetary policy on GDP growth and employment creation is at the centre of debates among researchers. Some researchers are of the opinion that the objective of monetary policy in achieving and maintaining price stability is founded on the idea that inflation is not good for economic growth, employment creation and income equality but, instead, only secures macroeconomic environment. In South Africa, the efficiency of different monetary policy tools, inflation and money-supply targeting, on economic performance has been questioned. Moreover, the issue of the high level of unemployment remains controversial among scholars. Therefore, the structural vector-error correction model (VECM) methods was used with quarterly data in order to investigate the impact of aggregate money supply (M3), interest rate (Repo) and real exchange rate on CPIX (inflation) , economic growth (GDP volume rate) and unemployment (joblessness rate) in South Africa for the period 1986 to 2010. The results show that both monetary-policy regimes have positively impacted on economic growth, but the impact of the pre-inflation-targeting regime is higher. Moreover, a weak positive liaison between monetary policy and unemployment is observed, but the post-inflation-targeting regime shows a higher percentage decrease in unemployment than the pre-inflation targeting period. Beyond any doubt, the research approves the engagement of the SARB to monitor (target) CPIX (inflation) due to its ability to ensure price stability and create a stable economic environment favourable to economic performance.

The main purpose of this study is to empirically assess the relationship between inflation and economic growth in Ethiopia using quarterly dataset from 1992Q1 to 2010Q4. In doing so, an interesting policy issue arises. What is the threshold level of inflation for the Ethiopian economy? Based on the Engle-Granger and Johansen co-integration tests it is found out that there is a positive long-run relationship between inflation and economic growth. The error correction models show that in cases of short-run disequilibrium, the inflation model adjusts itself to its long-run path correcting roughly 40% of the imbalance in each quarter. In addition, based on the conditional least square technique, the estimated threshold model suggests 10% as the optimal level of inflation that facilitates growth. An inflation level higher or lower than the threshold level of inflation affects the economic growth negatively and hence fiscal and monetary policy coordination is vital to keep inflation at the threshold. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anderson_da_Silva_Pinto.pdf: 593086 bytes, checksum: 0af63bcd9c696fd4ff30b43131d0442b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-27 / The systematic restatement that was prohibited by Law 9.249/95, allowed companies to recognize the effects of inflation in the accounting statements, thus enabling users to understand the effects of accounting that inflation generated in the asset and results of the companies. This paper aims to highlight the effects that the lack of indexation causes in equity in earnings and profitability of companies in the mining sector in the period 2006 to 2011, comparing the indicators of net income, shareholders' equity and return on equity extracted from the accounting statements determined in accordance with Brazilian Corporate Law and the accounting statements adjusted considering the effects of inflation over the period. The prohibition of the practice of restatement caused the accounting statements disclosed by companies in the mining sector do not recognize the effects of inflation, distorting the content of the information disclosed and as a consequence affecting the decision-making process of users of accounting. This is a descriptive quantitative, in which we used the methods of descriptive analysis and descriptive statistics to understand the behavior of indicators that were studied and to analyze the accounting statements of companies within the mining sector. Were collected and analyzed indicators of net income, shareholders' equity and return on equity, extracted from the accounting information disclosed in the Revista Exame Melhores e Maiores in the period from 2006 to 2011. Where significant differences were found in the values presented in accordance with Brazilian Corporate Law as compared with the figures considering the effects of inflation. The main results were that the lack of inflation adjustment in the accounting statements cause considerable distortions in the calculation of income for the period, the net asset value and profitability indicator in equity of companies in the mining sector. The distortions affect users of accounting in the process of choosing their investments and analysis of accounting information, as these users are making decisions through accounting statements do not adequately reflect the economic reality of companies in the mining sector. Conclude that the accounting practice of indexation for both corporate as managerial levels are relevant to avoid the distortions that are caused evidenced in equity, results and return on equity of companies in the mining sector, the non-recognition of inflation. / A sistem??tica da corre????o monet??ria que foi proibida pela Lei n. 9.249/95 permitia que as empresas reconhecessem os efeitos da infla????o nas demonstra????es cont??beis, possibilitando assim, aos usu??rios da contabilidade, conhecer os efeitos que a infla????o gerava no patrim??nio e nos resultados das empresas. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo evidenciar as consequ??ncias que a falta da corre????o monet??ria ocasiona no patrim??nio l??quido, no resultado do exerc??cio e na rentabilidade do patrim??nio l??quido das empresas do setor de minera????o brasileiro, no per??odo de 2006 a 2011, comparando os indicadores de lucro l??quido, do patrim??nio l??quido e da rentabilidade do patrim??nio l??quido extra??dos das demonstra????es cont??beis apuradas de acordo com a legisla????o societ??ria e as demonstra????es cont??beis ajustadas considerando os efeitos da infla????o no per??odo. A proibi????o da pr??tica da corre????o monet??ria fez com que as demonstra????es cont??beis divulgadas pelas empresas do setor de minera????o brasileiro n??o reconhe??am os efeitos da infla????o, distorcendo o conte??do das informa????es divulgadas e, como consequ??ncia, afetando o processo decis??rio dos usu??rios da contabilidade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva quantitativa, na qual foram utilizados os m??todos de an??lise descritiva e a estat??stica descritiva para se entender o comportamento dos indicadores que foram coletados das demonstra????es cont??beis das empresas pertencentes ao setor minera????o brasileiro. Este trabalho analisa os indicadores de lucro l??quido, do patrim??nio l??quido e da rentabilidade do patrim??nio l??quido, extra??dos das informa????es cont??beis divulgadas na revista Exame Maiores e Melhores, no per??odo de 2006 a 2011. Nos indicadores coletados, h?? diferen??as relevantes nos valores apresentados de acordo com a legisla????o societ??ria em compara????o com os valores apresentados considerando os efeitos da infla????o do per??odo. Os principais resultados alcan??ados foram que a falta da corre????o monet??ria nas demonstra????es cont??beis provocam distor????es consider??veis na apura????o do resultado do per??odo, no valor do patrim??nio l??quido e no indicador de rentabilidade do patrim??nio l??quido das empresas do setor de minera????o brasileiro. As distor????es afetam os usu??rios da contabilidade no processo de escolha dos seus investimentos e nas an??lises das informa????es cont??beis, pois estes usu??rios est??o tomando decis??es com base em demonstra????es cont??beis que n??o refletem adequadamente a realidade econ??mica das empresas do setor de minera????o brasileiro. Conclui-se que a pr??tica cont??bil da corre????o monet??ria, tanto para n??veis societ??rios quanto gerenciais, ?? relevante para evitar as distor????es evidenciadas que s??o causadas no patrim??nio l??quido, nos resultados e na rentabilidade do patrim??nio l??quido das empresas do setor de minera????o brasileiro, pelo n??o reconhecimento da infla????o.

Sponsored by the M.I.T. Center for Energy Policy Research.

Inflation expectations have been of great interest to economists because they predict how agents in an economy set prices and react to changes in various macroeconomic variables. The existence of Keynesian liquidity traps in Japan and the United States have helped emphasize the importance of inflation expectations, especially when monetary policy is rendered ineffective and there is almost perfect substitutability between money and bonds due to the zero bound condition of interest rates. Given the canonical theories of rational and adaptive expectations, this paper will use a simple model of the economy to measure the effect of various macroeconomic variables on the formation of inflation expectations. It will test to see how consumers, economists and the market measure and forecast inflation both in the short and in the long run.