Quantitative Easing and Exuberance in Government Bond Markets: Evidence from the ECB's Expanded Asset Purchase Program
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 17080/IV (2017)
28 Pages Posted: 13 Sep 2017
There are 2 versions of this paper
Quantitative Easing and Exuberance in Government Bond Markets: Evidence from the ECB's Expanded Asset Purchase Program
Quantitative Easing and Exuberance in Government Bond Markets: Evidence from the ECB's Expanded Asset Purchase Program
Date Written: August 25, 2017
Abstract
This paper examines whether the ECB’s Quantitative Easing (QE) policy is causing government bond prices to deviate from their fundamental value. We use a recent advance in the methodology to measure exuberant price behavior in financial time series introduced by Phillips et al. (2015). We extend this methodology and apply it to government bond prices. The results show that the QE policy substantially inflated government bond prices in Euro Area countries to such an extent that bond prices are no longer in line with the underlying fundamental value. We argue that careful monitoring is required when the QE policy is eventually reversed. The test procedure outlined in this paper provides a monitoring tool to do so.
Keywords: government bond yields, asset price bubbles, monetary policy
JEL Classification: G12, G15, E52
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation