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TEXT
A view advanced in the aftermath of the late-2000s financial crisis is that lower than optimal interest rates lead to excessive risk taking by financial intermediaries.
: Financial system regulation and policies; Transmission of monetary policyIn this paper, we use an economics decision-making experiment to test a key assumption underpinning the efficacy of price-level targeting relative to inflation targeting for business cycle stabilization and mitigating the effects of the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates.
: Monetary policy frameworkThe recent financial crisis and global economic slowdown have renewed interest in monetary policy options when the policy interest rate is at or near zero. This article examines how different monetary policy frameworks might help to lower the risk and economic cost of such a scenario. The authors present an analytical framework for examining monetary policy at the zero bound, particularly the role of inflation expectations in lowering the real interest rate. The influence of inflation targeting on inflation expectations and how forward guidance or a conditional commitment to future monetary policy may augment traditional monetary policy actions are also examined. The authors then examine recent research on the efficacy of price-level targeting (PLT) at the zero bound, which demonstrates that a credible PLT framework can reduce the likelihood of hitting the zero bound and lessen the economic costs of remaining there. PLT is also found to offer stabilization advantages in "normal" times, although these hinge critically on the degree of credibility of the PLT regime.
: Inflation targets; Monetary policy frameworkVarious papers have suggested that Price-Level targeting is a welfare improving policy relative to Inflation targeting. From a practical standpoint, this raises an important yet unanswered question: What is the optimal price index to target?
: Monetary policy frameworkThere appears to be a disconnect between the importance of the zero bound on nominal interest rates in the real-world and predictions from quantitative DSGE models. Recent economic events have reinforced the relevance of the zero bound for monetary policy whereas quantitative models suggest that the zero bound does not constrain (optimal) monetary policy.
: Monetary policy frameworkUsing the Bank of Canada's main projection and policy-analysis model, ToTEM, this paper measures the welfare gains of switching from inflation targeting to price-level targeting under imperfect credibility. Following the policy change, private agents assign a probability to the event that the policy-maker will revert to inflation-targeting next period.
: Monetary policy framework; Monetary policy implementationThis paper measures the welfare gains of switching from inflation-targeting to price-level targeting under imperfect credibility. Vestin (2006) shows that when the monetary authority cannot commit to future policy, price-level targeting yields higher welfare than inflation targeting.
: Credibility; Monetary policy frameworkLike the gold standard, price level targeting (PT) involves not letting past deviations of inflation be bygones; both regimes return the price level (or price of gold) to its target. The experience of suspension of the gold standard in World War I, resumption in the 1920s (for some countries at a different parity), and final abandonment is reviewed.
: Credibility; Monetary policy frameworkThis paper measures the welfare gains of switching from inflation-targeting to price-level targeting under imperfect credibility. Vestin (2006) shows that when the monetary authority cannot commit to future policy, price-level targeting yields higher welfare than inflation targeting.
: Credibility; Monetary policy frameworkThis paper examines the role of monetary policy in an environment with aggregate risk and incomplete markets. In a two-period overlapping-generations model with aggregate uncertainty and nominal bonds, optimal monetary policy attains the ex-ante Pareto optimal allocation.
: Monetary policy frameworkThe empirical relationship between the average growth rate and the volatility of growth rates, both over time and across countries, has important policy implications, which depend critically on the sign of the relationship.
: Business fluctuations and cyclesThe authors characterize the equilibrium for a small economy in a dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model with uncertainty.
: Economic models