Inflation targeting as a monetary policy rule

The purpose of the paper is to survey and discuss inflation targeting in the context of monetary policy rules. The paper provides a general conceptual discussion of monetary policy rules, attempts to clarify the essential characteristics of inflation targeting, compares inflation targeting to the other monetary policy rules, and draws some conclusions for the monetary policy of the European system of Central Banks

Monetary policy rules?

The Jeffrey and Kathryn Cole Honors College Lecture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. - March 16, 1999Monetary policy

Monetary policy rules?

A monetary policy rule is nothing more than a systematic decision-making process that uses information in a consistent and predictable way. In this article, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President, William Poole, critically examines past instances when policy failed to deliver price stability. He also describes the rule-like behavior embodied in successful monetary policy episodes. Poole suggests that developing, implementing, and refining a monetary policy rule is the best way to ensure that the current low inflation environment continues into the next millennium.Monetary policy ; Inflation (Finance)

Challenges for Monetary Policy and the Enlarged Euroland

The recent outset of European Monetary Integration with the introduction of a unique currency and a full centralization of monetary policy together with the increasing integration of global capital markets, stimulated a large body of research on monetary policy rules. Since Lucas’ critique, the need to find rules which are at the same time simple and accountable has been a first goal for researchers and policy makers. In fact, policy can be effective only if it is credible. Credibility is enhanced thorough the adoption of simple, accountable monetary policy rules. However, the big question is: what kind of rules ? This paper tries to address the critical aspects in monetary policy modelling with a special emphasis to Euro-Enlargement.Monetary Policy Modelling

How useful are monetary policy rules to deal with inflation: The Spanish case.

The role of monetary policy rules to explain the behaviour of central banks has received an increasing attention during the last few years. The Spanish case could be of interest given that, with an inflation above the European average, was able to conduct its monetary policy and to control the inflation in order to join the European monetary union. But after the adoption of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy in January 1999, a higher inflation can be observed. In this paper we explore whether the monetary policy performed by the Bank of Spain would have follow a monetary policy rule, and to which extent monetary rules contribute to achieve the goal of inflation.Monetary policy rules, inflation.

Monetary Policy Rules in an Uncertain Environment

This article examines recent research on the influence of various forms of economic uncertainty on the performance of different classes of monetary policy rules: from simple rules to fully optimal monetary policy under commitment. The authors explain why uncertainty matters in the design of monetary policy rules and provide quantitative examples from the recent literature. They also present results for several policy rules in ToTEM, the Bank of Canada's main model for projection and analysis, including rules that respond to price level, rather than to inflation.

Targeting versus instrument rules for monetary policy: what is wrong with McCallum and Nelson?

In their paper "Targeting versus Instrument Rules for Monetary Policy," McCallum and Nelson critique targeting rules for the analysis of monetary policy. Their arguments are rebutted here. First, McCallum and Nelson's preference to study the robustness of simple monetary policy rules is no reason at all to limit attention to simple instrument rules; simple targeting rules may have more desirable properties. Second, optimal targeting rules are a compact, robust, and structural description of goal-directed monetary policy, analogous to the compact, robust, and structural consumption Euler conditions in the theory of consumption. They express the very robust condition of equality of the marginal rates of substitution and transformation between the central bank's target variables. Indeed, they provide desirable micro foundations of monetary policy. Third, under realistic information assumptions, the instrument rule analog to any targeting rule that McCallum and Nelson have proposed results in very large instrument rate volatility and is also, for other reasons, inferior to a targeting rule.Monetary policy