We consider a record keeping cost to distinguish checking deposits from currency in a model where means-of-payment decisions and liquidity of assets are modelled explicitly. An equilibrium exists where checks are used only in big transactions while cash is used in all transactions. Higher...

Monetary independence is at the core of the macroeconomic policy trilemma stating that an independent monetary policy, a fixed exchange rate and free movement of capital cannot exist at the same time. This study examines the relationship between monetary autonomy and inflation dynamics in a...

The response of nominal and real interest rates to expected deflation becomes problematic when nominal interest rates fall toward zero while the expected rate of deflation is increasing. As nominal interest rates approach their lower bound, further increases in expected deflation cannot cause...

This paper analyzes two instruments - asset-based reserve requirements put forward by Thomas Palley and asset-based capital requirements proposed by Charles Goodhart and Avinash Persaud - regarding their merits in reducing excessive asset price inflation. A theoretical framework of asset pricing...

The major central banks now operate in a regime of abundance of bank reserves. As a result, they can only raise the money market rate by increasing the rate of remuneration of bank reserves. This, in turn, leads to large transfers of the central banks' profits (and more) to commercial banks that...

This paper examines episodes of sudden large exchange rate depreciations (currency crashes) in industrial countries and characterizes the behavior of government bond yields during and after these crashes. The most important determinant of changes in bond yields appears to be inflationary...

We separate changes of the federal funds rate into two components; one reflects the Fed's superior forecasts about the state of the economy and the other component reflects the Fed's reaction to the public's forecast about the state of the economy. Romer and Romer (2000) found that the Fed...

This paper analyses the determinants of inflation differentials and price levels across the euro area countries. Dynamic panel estimations for the period 1999-2006 show that inflation differentials are primarily determined by cyclical positions and inflation persistence. The persistence in...

The neo-Fisherian view does not consider a negative interest rate gap a prerequisite for boosting inflation. Instead, a negative interest rate gap is said to lower inflation. We discuss this counterintuitive response - known as the Fisher paradox - in a prototypical new-Keynesian model. We draw...

Die Geldpolitik der Europäischen Zentralbank wird von zwei Seiten kritisiert. Während die eine Seite die geldpolitische Ausrichtung als zu expansiv ansieht, wird der EZB von der anderen Seite vorgeworfen, dass die gemessene Inflationsrate noch immer unterhalb des Inflationsziels liegt. Eine...