The global financial crisis of 2008-2009 led the world’s major central banks to massively increase their holdings of government debt and other securities. After a brief pause, these central banks resumed their buying spree following the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Are there any consequences of having such large balance sheets? What should central banks do going forward?

Join us for a live webinar on Bloated Central Bank Balance Sheets with former Governors Glenn Stevens and Athanasios Orphanides. This event is moderated by our own Professor Eli Remolona and is part of our Conversations on Central Banking series.
 

About the Panelists

Glenn Stevens - Former Governor of Reserve Bank of Australia

Glenn Stevens AC is an advisor for Ellerston Capital’s Global Macro Fund, a Non-Executive Director at Macquarie Group, a member of NWQ’s investment committee, and a director at the Anika Foundation. He has a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney and a Master’s degree in Economics from Western University in Ontario.

Mr Stevens worked at the highest levels of the Reserve Bank of Australia for twenty years, most recently as Governor between 2006 and 2016. He made key contributions to a number of Australian and international boards and committees, including as chair of the Australian Council of Financial Regulators between 2006 and 2016, as a member of the Financial Stability Board, and on a range of G20 committees.
 

Athanasios Orphanides - Professor of Practice, Global Economics and Management (MIT Sloan School of Management)

Athanasios Orphanides is a Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also an Honorary Advisor to the Bank of Japan’s Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Financial Studies, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability. He obtained undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics as well as a PhD in economics from MIT

Before joining MIT Sloan, he held positions at central banks in the United States and in Europe. From May 2007 to May 2012, he served a five-year term as Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and was a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. Following the creation of the European Systemic Risk Board in 2010, he was elected a member of its first Steering Committee. Earlier, he served as Senior Advisor at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he had started his professional career as an economist. His research interests are on central banking, finance, and political economy and he has published extensively on these topics.