Are the facts of UK inflation persistence to be explained by nominal rigidity or changes in monetary regime?

It has been widely argued that inflation persistence since WWII has been widespread and durable and that it can only be accounted for by models with a high degree of nominal rigidity. We examine UK post-war data and find that the varying persistence it reveals is largely due to changing monetary regimes and that models with moderate or even no nominal rigidity are best equipped to explain it.

Would price-level targeting destabilise the economy?

When indexation is endogenous price level targeting slightly adds to economic stability, contrary to widespread fears to the contrary. The aggregate supply curve flattens and the aggregate demand curve steepens, increasing stability in the face of supply shocks

Query Composition: Why Does It Have to Be So Hard?

Project Envision, a large research effort at Virginia Tech, focuses on developing a user centered multimedia database from the computer science literature with full-text searching and full-content retrieval capabilities. User interviews indicate that people have trouble composing queries. Widely available boolean retrieval systems present problems with both syntax and logic. Natural language queries for vector space retrieval systems are easier to compose but users complain that they do not understand the matching principles used; users also complain that they have too little control over the search and fear being overwhelmed by an enormous retrieval set. We describe the Envision query window which has as a usability goal making query composition easy while increasing user control. Results of formative usability evaluation and subsequent redesign are discussed

Can a Real Business Cycle Model without price and wage stickiness explain UK real exchange rate behaviour?

This paper establishes the ability of a Real Business Cycle model to account for real exchange rate behaviour, using UK data. We show that a productivity simulation is capable of explaining initial real appreciation with subsequent depreciation to a lower steady state. The model is tested by the method of indirect inference, bootstrapping the errors to generate 95% confidence limits for a time-series representation of the real exchange rate, as well as for various key data moments. The results suggest RBC models can explain real exchange rate movements

Economic policy: Protectionism as an elite strategy

The EU has pursued protectionist policies not merely in food but also in manufacturing at the customs union level. In services it has not dismantled much of the existing national protectionism. The economic costs are calculated here at some 3% of GDP for the UK and some 4% for the rest of the EU - or much larger under liberal planning assumptions. Added to its social interventionism, these costs suggest that the EU has put political integration before economic efficiency. This policymaking pattern suggests that European elites believe their position would be threatened by the domestic effects of world competition

Can the facts of UK inflation persistence be explainded by nominal rigidity

It has been widely argued that inflation persistence since WWII has been widespread and durable and that it can only be accounted for by models with a high degree of nominal rigidity. We examine UK post-war data where after confirming previous studies findings of varying persistence due to changing monetary regimes, we find that models with little nominal rigidity are best equipped to explain it

Would price-level targeting destabilise the economy?

When indexation is endogenous price level targeting slightly adds to economic stability, contrary to widespread fears to the contrary. The aggregate supply curve flattens and the aggregate demand curve steepens, increasing stability in the face of supply shocks

Economic policy: protectionism as an elite strategy

The EU has pursued protectionist policies not merely in food but also in manufacturing at the customs union level. In services it has not dismantled much of the existing national protectionism. The economic costs are calculated here at some 3% of GDP for the UK and some 4% for the rest of the EU --- or much larger under liberal planning assumptions. Added to its social interventionism, these costs suggest that the EU has put political integration before economic efficiency. This policymaking pattern suggests that European elites believe their position would be threatened by the domestic effects of world competition