…recommends it to policy makers guide
The Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, has described newly launched book titled ‘Money and Economic Growth’ as policy makers guide in shaping economic discourse in the Ghanaian context.
According to him, the caliber of the author, Dr. Emmanuel Kumah, an experience consultant on international economics, working with Bank of Ghana and later with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), coupled with his contribution to knowledge sharing in international finance and banking, is summed up into an exciting academic and practical insight regarding the subject matter for policy makers.
“I welcome this book as part of the economic literature and highly recommend it to policy makers with enquiring minds on the money supply-economic growth nexus in the Ghanaian context.
This book shares verifiable lessons on Ghana’s economic growth path as well as provides a collective economic outlook of the African continent, made simple for easy comprehension and referencing. This book is a must read for policy makers, students and researches in this field of study,” he emphasized.
On her part, President of Ghana Association Bankers (GAB), who also doubles as CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana PLC, Mansa Nettey, said: “GAB as an association whose members have been some of the primary witnesses of the economic antecedent highlighted by Dr. Kumah. We are certain that the book will add to the body of knowledge and reference point needed as a country and continent to drive development and economic transformation desired.”
She reiterated how the book discusses, in very comprehensive and impressive detail, the growth of money and its impact on key micro economic indicators.
Key message of the book
The book’s –‘Money and Economic Growth: Aspects and Lessons from Ghana and Africa’, published by Digibooks Gh. Limited– essential message is that, money is a double-edged sword: a powerful instrument for economic growth and yet its growth can be inimical for economic growth when it is misused.
It discussed two of the most fundamental issues that run through the history of economic thought-the relationship between the growth of money and the real economy, and how to stop monetary growth from causing unintended consequences.
“The book argues essentially that preserving the value of money is crucial to ensure that money growth promotes economic growth. It turns out that the growth of money has indeed short-run effects on output because of many reasons noted in the literature, such as imperfect information and famous sticky wages hypothesis.”
The book concludes that perhaps the most pernicious effect of inflation on economic growth is through a disruption of the usefulness of price signals for the allocation of resources.
And to address this problem the book discusses “how to harness the power of the growth of money to promote economic growth through policies, designed to preserve the stability of the value of money through specific interventions to reduce inflation drastically.”
About the Author
Dr. Emmanuel Oteng Kumah, is currently the Chairman of Board of Directors, Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana PLC. He is an International Economic Consultant and Advisor who served in high-profile roles including IMF for 25 years as Division Chief, Resident Representative. He also served as Advisor of the Research Department and later Senior Advisor, BoG. He has also lectured at many institutions on international finance and banking.
