Home About us Contact | |||
Optimal Monetary Policy (optimal + monetary_policy)
Selected AbstractsOPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW*INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Narayana R. KocherlakotaArticle first published online: 5 MAY 200 In this article, I examine the current state of knowledge about optimal monetary policy. I distinguish between two literatures, basic and applied. The basic literature is explicit about the frictions that generate a positive value for money and make it socially beneficial. The applied literature is not. I describe the recent lessons about monetary policy that we have learned from each literature and discuss how the two distinct approaches may be usefully combined. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy with Price and Wage RigiditiesECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 1 2006Massimiliano Marzo In this paper, I search for an optimal configuration of parameters for variants of the Taylor rule by using an accurate second-order welfare-based method within a fully microfounded dynamic stochastic model, with price and wage rigidities, without capital accumulation. A version of the model with distortionary taxation is also explicitly tested. The model is solved up to second-order solution. Optimal rules are obtained by maximizing a conditional welfare measure, differently from what has been done in the current literature. Optimal monetary policy functions turn out to be characterized by inflation targeting parameter lower than in empirical studies. In general, the optimal values for monetary policy parameters depend on the degree of nominal rigidities and on the role of fiscal policy. When nominal rigidities are higher, optimal monetary policy becomes more aggressive to inflation. With a tighter fiscal policy, optimal monetary policy turns out to be less aggressive to inflation. Impulse-response functions based on second-order model solution show a non-affine pattern when the economy is hit by shocks of different magnitude. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy in a Model with Agency CostsJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 2010CHARLES T. CARLSTROM optimal monetary policy; agency costs This paper integrates a fully explicit model of agency costs into an otherwise standard Dynamic New Keynesian model in a particularly transparent way. A principal result is the characterization of agency costs as endogenous markup shocks in an output-gap version of the Phillips curve. The model's utility-based welfare criterion is derived explicitly and includes a measure of credit market tightness that we interpret as a risk premium. The paper also fully characterizes optimal monetary policy and provides conditions under which zero inflation is the optimal policy. Finally, optimal policy can be expressed as an inflation targeting criterion that (depending upon parameter values) can be either forward or backward looking. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy with an Uncertain Cost ChannelJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 5 2009PETER TILLMANN parameter uncertainty; min,max; cost channel; optimal monetary policy; Taylor rule The cost channel of monetary transmission describes a supply-side effect of interest rates on firms' costs. Previous research has found this effect to vary, both over time and across countries. Moreover, the cyclical nature of financial frictions is likely to amplify the cost channel. This paper derives optimal monetary policy in the presence of uncertainty about the true size of the cost channel. In a min,max approach, the central bank derives an optimal policy plan to be implemented by a Taylor rule. It is shown that uncertainty about the cost channel leads to an attenuated interest rate setting behavior. In this respect, the Brainard (1967) principle of cautious policy in the face of uncertainty continues to hold in both a Bayesian and a min,max framework. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy, Taxes, and Public Debt in an Intertemporal EquilibriumJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 3 2002Bertrand Crettez This article is devoted to a study of the optimal monetary and fiscal policies within the framework of an overlapping generations model with cash-in-advance constraints. We first characterize the intertemporal equilibrium. Then we show how to decentralize the optimal growth path using available policy instruments (i.e., labor income and capital taxes, public debt, money supply). Between the four instruments: wages and capital taxes, debt and monetary policy, one is redundant among the three last which implies that the Friedman Rule is only a special case. [source] WHO IS AFRAID OF THE FRIEDMAN RULE?ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 2 2008JOYDEEP BHATTACHARYA We explore the connection between optimal monetary policy and heterogeneity among agents in a standard monetary economy with two types of agents where the stationary distribution of money holdings is nondegenerate. Sans type-specific fiscal policy, we show that the zero-nominal-interest rate policy (the Friedman rule) does not maximize type-specific welfare; it may not maximize aggregate ex ante social welfare either. Indeed, one or, more surprisingly, both types may benefit if the central bank deviates from the Friedman rule. (JEL E31, E51, E58) [source] Optimal Monetary Policy with Price and Wage RigiditiesECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 1 2006Massimiliano Marzo In this paper, I search for an optimal configuration of parameters for variants of the Taylor rule by using an accurate second-order welfare-based method within a fully microfounded dynamic stochastic model, with price and wage rigidities, without capital accumulation. A version of the model with distortionary taxation is also explicitly tested. The model is solved up to second-order solution. Optimal rules are obtained by maximizing a conditional welfare measure, differently from what has been done in the current literature. Optimal monetary policy functions turn out to be characterized by inflation targeting parameter lower than in empirical studies. In general, the optimal values for monetary policy parameters depend on the degree of nominal rigidities and on the role of fiscal policy. When nominal rigidities are higher, optimal monetary policy becomes more aggressive to inflation. With a tighter fiscal policy, optimal monetary policy turns out to be less aggressive to inflation. Impulse-response functions based on second-order model solution show a non-affine pattern when the economy is hit by shocks of different magnitude. [source] OPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW*INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Narayana R. KocherlakotaArticle first published online: 5 MAY 200 In this article, I examine the current state of knowledge about optimal monetary policy. I distinguish between two literatures, basic and applied. The basic literature is explicit about the frictions that generate a positive value for money and make it socially beneficial. The applied literature is not. I describe the recent lessons about monetary policy that we have learned from each literature and discuss how the two distinct approaches may be usefully combined. [source] Core Inflation and Monetary PolicyINTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2001Marianne Nessén What are the implications of targeting different measures of inflation? We extend a basic theoretical framework of optimal monetary policy under inflation targeting (Svensson 1997) to include several components of CPI inflation, and analyse the implications of using different measures of inflation as the target variable , headline CPI inflation, core inflation, and CPI excluding interest rates. Our main results are the following. First, barring the interest rate component, temporary shocks to inflation do not affect optimal monetary policy under any regime. Second, indirect (second-round) effects of disturbances on target variables need to be accounted for properly. Simply excluding seemingly temporary disturbances from the reaction function risks leading to inappropriate policy responses. Third, it may be optimal to respond to changes in one measure of inflation even if the target is defined in terms of another. Fourth, the presence of the direct interest rate component in the CPI tends to push optimal monetary policy in an expansionary direction. The net effect, considering also the traditional channel, however, depends on the nature of the initial disturbance. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy in a Model with Agency CostsJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 2010CHARLES T. CARLSTROM optimal monetary policy; agency costs This paper integrates a fully explicit model of agency costs into an otherwise standard Dynamic New Keynesian model in a particularly transparent way. A principal result is the characterization of agency costs as endogenous markup shocks in an output-gap version of the Phillips curve. The model's utility-based welfare criterion is derived explicitly and includes a measure of credit market tightness that we interpret as a risk premium. The paper also fully characterizes optimal monetary policy and provides conditions under which zero inflation is the optimal policy. Finally, optimal policy can be expressed as an inflation targeting criterion that (depending upon parameter values) can be either forward or backward looking. [source] Monetary Policy under Alternative Asset Market Structures: The Case of a Small Open EconomyJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 7 2009BIANCA DE PAOLI welfare; optimal monetary policy; asset markets; small open economy Can the structure of asset markets change the way monetary policy should be conducted? Following a linear-quadratic approach, the present paper addresses this question in a New Keynesian small open economy framework. Our results reveal that the configuration of asset markets significantly affects optimal monetary policy and the performance of standard policy rules. In particular, when comparing complete and incomplete markets, the ranking of policy rules is entirely reversed, and so are the policy prescriptions regarding the optimal level of exchange rate volatility. [source] Optimal Monetary Policy with an Uncertain Cost ChannelJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 5 2009PETER TILLMANN parameter uncertainty; min,max; cost channel; optimal monetary policy; Taylor rule The cost channel of monetary transmission describes a supply-side effect of interest rates on firms' costs. Previous research has found this effect to vary, both over time and across countries. Moreover, the cyclical nature of financial frictions is likely to amplify the cost channel. This paper derives optimal monetary policy in the presence of uncertainty about the true size of the cost channel. In a min,max approach, the central bank derives an optimal policy plan to be implemented by a Taylor rule. It is shown that uncertainty about the cost channel leads to an attenuated interest rate setting behavior. In this respect, the Brainard (1967) principle of cautious policy in the face of uncertainty continues to hold in both a Bayesian and a min,max framework. [source] Model Selection for Monetary Policy Analysis: How Important is Empirical Validity?,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 1 2009Q. Farooq Akram Abstract We investigate the economic significance of trading off empirical validity of models against other desirable model properties. Our investigation is based on three alternative econometric systems of the supply side, in a model that can be used to discuss optimal monetary policy in Norway. Our results caution against compromising empirical validity when selecting a model for policy analysis. We also find large costs from basing policies on the robust model, or on a suite of models, even when it contains the valid model. This confirms an important role for econometric modelling and evaluation in model choice for policy analysis. [source] |