This paper challenges the time-inconsistency case for central bank independence. It argues that the time-inconsistency literature not only seriously confuses the substance of the rules versus discretion debate, but also posits an implausible view of monetary policy. Most worrisome, the...

Morocco and Tunisia have started to open their markets to international trade and capital flows in order to bolster investment and growth. These liberalization programs require important adjustments in their economic policies, in particular their exchange rate regimes and monetary policies. This...

This paper attempts to provide an empirical determination of the Philippine central bank's (BSP) recent monetary policy stance, before and after its adoption of the inflation targeting framework, as revealed by its interest rate setting behavior. Employing Clarida, Gali, and Gertler's (1998,...

Pareto-efficient consumption in a pure-exchange, one good economy varies over states of nature with respect to only two factors: real aggregate supply and individual utility shocks. One’s optimal contract receipts vary with respect to only these two factors and the ratio of one’s endowment...

Monetary policy has an important role in the determination of the inflation rate and the output gap time trajectories. Monetary authorities should choose the nominal interest rate time path that best serves the goals of price stability (primarily) and output growth (as a consequence of the...

In December 1997, the Czech Republic became the first transitional economy to adopt an inflation-targeting (IT) framework. This paper addresses two important topics: optimal inflation-targeting horizon and optimal speed of disinflation. A small, aggregate, forward-looking model of the Czech...

This paper develops and estimates an unobserved components model for purposes of monetary policy analysis and inflation targeting in a small open economy. Cyclical components are modeled as a multivariate linear rational expectations model of the monetary transmission mechanism, while trend...

This study attempts to examine the minimum requirements for adopting an inflation targeting framework in Malawi. First, we examined four pre- requisites of an inflation targeting framework: a fairy long track record of low and stable inflation; a degree of independence; having a sole target; and...

El tema de la inflación ha sido uno de los más debatidos en los últimos meses. Los incrementos de precios registrados en el primer trimestre de 2005 han avivado la discusión. Este trabajo muestra que el problema está lejos de estar fuera de control y que determinadas medidas de política...

Territorial appointees to an independent central bank (e.g. District Federal Reserve Banks’ presidents, Governors of national central banks at the ECB’s Governing Council) are liable to confront a “role conflict” stemming from a duality of loyalties and allegiances - to the home regional...