THE COST OF CAPITAL, ASSET PRICES AND THE AFFECTS OF MONETARY POLICY

The primary objective of this paper is to study the interaction between mon- etary policy, asset prices, and the sources of technological progress. We develop a two sector model in which ?nancial institutions promote risk sharing and ?at money alleviates trade frictions. Since the price of capital goods depends on in- ?ation, the Friedman Rule may be sub-optimal. In addition, di¤erent sources of productivity can a¤ect the degree of risk sharing. Although the optimal money growth rate falls in response to an increase in productivity in either sector of the economy, monetary policy should react more aggressively to investment-speci?c productivity. Our results are broadly consistent with U.S. monetary policy dur- ing the postwar period.