Inflation Is Always and Everywhere an Interest-Rate Phenomenon

Following an earlier paper, I investigate an economy where nominal interest rates are rigid, but aggregate prices are not. Though the title exaggerates, interest rates rigidity does account for an uncanny number of stylized facts about inflation. This paper shows that previously shown results are robust to changes in the specification of interest rate rigidity. Results investigated include: (1) the procyclicality of inflation, (2) inflation control through interest rate manipulation,(3) the persistence of inflation since World War II, (4) the Great Moderation under inflation targeting, (5) real rate volatility under a gold standard, (6) the price puzzle