This paper investigates persuasion as a means of influence for the Federal Reserve Chairman in meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Using textual records of FOMC meetings, federal funds rate targets have been recorded for Committee members who served in the Arthur Burns era...

1. Building blocks -- 2. The Kydland-Prescott research program : from "optimal stabilization" and "time inconsistency" to "time to build" -- 3. Kydland-Prescott and Long-Plosser : development and cross-fertilization -- 4. Themes, variations, and initial extensions -- 5. Debates, augmentation,...

We propose and estimate several discrete choice models of monetary policy decision-making that feature time-varying inertia. The models permit us to account for three stylized facts characterizing monetary policymaking in the United States: (1) target interest rates are gradually adjusted in...

Sweden lapsed into a severe recession in 2008 but, unlike other countries, had a rapid and robust recovery. Because of its unique recession experience, it provides a revealing case for investigating monetary policy responses to macroeconomic fluctuations. We estimate Taylor rules for the...

Committees may make better monetary policy decisions than individuals; however, the benefits of group decision making could be lost if committee members cede power to a chairman. We develop an econometric model to describe intracommittee power‐sharing across members. Estimation of the model...