The New Policy Framework of the Bank of Japan: Central Banking in an Uncertain World

When the Bank of Japan ended its Quantitative Easing Policy on 9 March 2006, it also issued a document entitled “The Introduction of a New Framework for the Conduct of Monetary Policy” to explain its policy stance. “Fundamental uncertainty” (the existence of “unknown unknowns”) is the most important consideration in this New Policy Framework. The Framework has two basic principles: a Two-Perspective Strategy and the collective wisdom of “agreeing to disagree.”