An examination of recent empirical research on money demand, which states that the interest elasticity of money demand is greater than most economists previously thought. The author discusses the policy implications of this research for both the M1 and M2 measures.

An analysis of the recent weakness in M2 growth that attempts to measure the opportunity cost of the aggregate more accurately and that explores the potential effects of the thrift industry restructuring on the adjustment of money demand to its long-run equilibrium level.

An analysis of how federal funds futures markets are efficient processors of information concerning the future path of the fed funds rate and a discussion of some related implications for central-bank policymaking.

Large swings in stock prices are sometimes associated with a redirection of household savings flows. Such changes can lead to transitory increases in M2 as investors temporarily “park” funds in depository assets while they determine the funds’ ultimate destination. The authors find that,...

An examination of the various factors that have determined the level and growth of the federal debt over the past 40 years, with some perspective on future levels of federal debt.

An examination of the relationship between velocity and interest rates for two alternative measures of money, and an analysis of the effects of thrift restructuring on money demand.

A history and analysis of the debate about whether monetary policy should be conducted by rules known in advance to all or by policymaker discretion.

An examination of recent changes in the statistical properties of alternative measures of core inflation, identifying statistically significant change points in the fixed mean and finding that for all measures considered, changes in the inflation rate trend have been infrequent and, for the most...

A presentation of some tentative evidence that MZM, an alternative money measure comprising all instruments payable at par on demand, has exhibited a fairly stable relationship with nominal GDP and with its own opportunity cost in recent years, suggesting a potential role for policy.

An examination of the short- and long-term implications of an inflation policy on real output, using a method that allows structural interpretation of a simple VAR applied to a macroeconomic system that includes real output and inflation.