Macroeconomic models and the yield curve: An assessment of the fit

Many have questioned the empirical relevance of the Calvo-Yun model. This paper adds a term structure to three widely studied macroeconomic models (Calvo-Yun, hybrid and Svensson). We back out from observations on the yield curve the underlying macroeconomic model that most closely matches the level, slope and curvature of the yield curve. With each model we trace the response of the yield curve to macroeconomic shocks. We assess the fit of each model against the observed behaviour of interest rates and find limited support for the Calvo-Yun model in terms of fit with the observed yield curve, we find some support for the hybrid model but the Svensson model performs best

Inflation Targeting, Transparency and Interest Rate Volatility: Ditching 'Monetary Mystique' in the UK

Monetary authorities often seem reluctant to discuss the conduct of monetary policy. There is a concern that greater openness in monetary policy-making may lead to volatility in financial markets, and specifically in interest rates. To date there is very little direct empirical evidence; however, recent changes in the monetary policy framework in the UK provide an opportunity to gain some insight on this issue. First, the authors present a model of monetary policy showing that the volatility that would otherwise occur to aggregate prices is transmitted to the rate of interest in a tightly specified nominal regime. Under some circumstances, information flows may add to volatility; if volatility is harmful, then central bankers may be right to be reticent. However, the evidence suggests that even though volatility has risen in the recent past, there is no evidence that this volatility is directly attributable to increased information flows per se

On the Interaction of Monetary and Fiscal Policy

In this paper we review some fundamental issues that have been identified by macroeconomists in discussing the co-ordination of monetary and fiscal policy. As Sargent and Wallace (1981) graphically illustrated, the consolidated public sector present-value budget constraint means that monetary and fiscal policy are ultimately joint decisions. However, as we show in a quantitative general equilibrium model, even when fiscal solvency is not an issue, monetary and fiscal policy may still need to be co-ordinated

On the Determinacy of Monetary Policy under Expectational Errors

Forward looking agents with expectational errors provide a problem for monetary policy. We show that under such conditions a standard interest rate rule may not achieve determinacy. We suggest a modification to the standard policy rule that guarantees determinacy in this setting, which involves the policy maker co-ordinating inflation dynamics by responding to each of past, current and expected inflation. We show that this solution maps directly into Woodford’s (2000) timeless perspective. We trace the responses in an artificial economy and illustrate the extent to which macroeconomic persistence is reduced following the adoption of this rule.Expectational Errors; Indeterminacy; Monetary Policy Rules.

Interest Rate Bounds and Fiscal Policy

When the monetary authority controls the short-term interest rate we find that under a regime of permanent (and even persistent but temporary) deficits that a strict upper bound on the feasible interest rate sequence is present. More generally, the satisfaction of the fiscal authority’s present value budget constraint in the presence of a deficit sequence, means that monetary and fiscal decisions cannot be independent. This is an important caveat to the results in McCallum (1984).Intertemporal macro; monetary policy and fiscal policy interactions.

Productivity, Preferences and UIP deviations in an Open Economy Business Cycle Model

We show that a flex-price two-sector open economy DSGE model can explain the poor degree of international risk sharing and exchange rate disconnect. We use a suite of model evaluation measures and examine the role of (i) traded and non-traded sectors; (ii) financial market incompleteness; (iii) preference shocks; (iv) deviations from UIP condition for the exchange rates; and (v) creditor status in net foreign assets. We find that there is a good case for both traded and non-traded productivity shocks as well as UIP deviations in explaining the puzzles

Independence Day for the “Old Lady? A Natural Experiment on the Implications of Central Bank Independence

Central bank independence is widely thought be a sine qua non of a credible commitment to price stability. The surprise decision by the UK government to grant operational independence to the Bank of England in 1997 affords us a natural experiment with which to gauge the impact on the yield curve from the adoption of central bank independence. We document the extent to which the decision to grant independence was ‘news?and illustrate that the reduction in medium and long term nominal interest rates was some 50 basis points, which we show to be consistent with a sharp increase in policymaker’s aversion to inflation deviations from target. We suggest therefore central bank independence represents one of the clearest signals available to elected politicians about their preferences on the control of inflation.Central bank independence; preferences; yield curve.

Bayesian Estimation of DSGE Models: Is the Workhorse Model Identified?

Koop, Pesaran and Smith (2011) suggest a simple diagnostic indicator for the Bayesian estimation of the parameters of a DSGE model. They show that, if a parameter is well identified, the precision of the posterior should improve as the (artificial) data size T increases, and the indicator checks the speed at which precision improves. It does not require any additional programming; a researcher just needs to generate artificial data and estimate the model with different T. Applying this to Smets and Wouters'(2007) medium size US model, we find that while exogenous shock processes are well identified, most of the parameters in the structural equations are not.Bayesian Estimation, Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, Identification.