Inflation Targeting: What Have We Learned?

Inflation targeting has been widely adopted in both developed and emerging economies. In this essay, I survey the evidence on the effects of inflation targeting on macroeconomic performance and assess what lessons this evidence provides for inflation targeting and the design of monetary policy. While macroeconomic experiences among both inflation targeting and non-targeting developed economies have been similar, inflation targeting has improved macroeconomic performance among developing economies. Importantly, inflation targeting has not been associated with greater real economic instability among either developed or developing economics. While cost shocks, such as the large rise in commodity prices that occurred in 2007 and early 2008, force central banks to make difficult short-run trade-offs, the ability to deal with demand shocks and financial crises can be enhanced by a commitment to an explicit target. This article was adapted from the John Kuszczak Memorial Lecture, prepared for the conference on ‘International Experience with the Conduct of Monetary Policy under Inflation Targeting’, held at the Bank of Canada, 22–23 July 2008. I would like to thank Mahir Binici for excellent research assistance and conference participants and an anonymous referee for comments and suggestions. Views expressed and remaining errors are my