News Shocks, Price Levels, and Monetary Policy

This paper presents a model in which improvement in the future TFP is, on impact, associated with increases in consumption, stock prices, and real wages, and decreases in GDP, investment, hours worked, and inflation. These predictions are consistent with empirical findings of Barsky and Sims. The model features research and development, sticky nominal wages, and the monetary authority responding to inflation and consumption growth. The proposed policy rule fits the actual Federal Funds rate as closely as an alternative policy rule responding to inflation and GDP growth, and is better at reducing distortion due to the nominal wage stickiness.