Strategies for Controlling Inflation

This paper examines what strategies policymakers have used to both reduce and control inflation. It first outlines why a consensus has emerged that inflation needs to be controlled. Then it examines four basic strategies: exchange rate pegging, monetary targeting, inflation targeting, and the just do it' strategy of preemptive monetary policy with no explicit nominal anchor. The discussion highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy and sheds light not only on how disinflation might best be achieved, but also on how hard won gains in lowering inflation can be locked in.