What do birds have to do with monetary policy? More than you think! Those in favour of a more accommodative monetary policy are referred to as “doves”, while “hawks” are those who lean towards a tighter monetary policy stance. In the last part of our series from the Money Museum, presenter Silviana Ursu explores why you’ll find the pair in our Money Museum.

Do you know the security features of the euro banknotes? You’re probably familiar with some of them. But have you ever heard what happens when you place the banknotes under UV light? Our presenter Silviana Ursu reveals what that does in the fourth part of our video series from the Money Museum. 

How many cocoa beans would a loaf of bread cost? What about a pair of shoes? In the past, objects really were used as a means of payment in some parts of the world. For example, the Mayans, one of the oldest cultures in Central America, traded cocoa beans for food and clothing. In the third part of our series from the Money Museum, presenter Silviana Ursu takes a look at what constitutes money and the ways we pay today. 

The NGFS released a report entitled “Adapting central bank operations to a hotter world: Reviewing some options” which assesses nine options available to central banks to factor climate-related risks into their operational framework. Sabine Mauderer, Chair of the NGFS’ “Scaling-up green finance” workstream and executive board member of the Deutsche Bundesbank: “Central banks ought to be aware of climate risks for the integrity of their balance sheets. Even more so, they should get ready to respond to such risks swiftly and with determination. Our report is a great blueprint to support central banks in making strategic choices on how to reflect climate risk in their monetary policy operations.” 

Deutsche Bundesbank together with Deutsche Börse Group and Germany’s Finance Agency have developed and successfully tested a settlement interface for electronic securities. Securities settlement using distributed ledger technology (DLT) is performed with the aid of a trigger solution in TARGET2.

The digital transformation creates scope to make workflows and production processes more efficient. To quantify the impact of digital transformation on labour productivity, research often focuses on investments in digital technologies. This perspective neglects the fact that digital intermediate inputs, such as microchips or integrated software, also represent an important transmission channel for the efficiency gains from digitalisation. In a new study, Bundesbank researchers have examined how efficiency gains in the digital sectors have affected labour productivity in Germany, France and the United States.