This commentary describes the CPI targeting regime implemented by the Swedish Riksbank during the 1930. This episode is revisited because some people believe that it would be infeasible for a central bank to target a price index successfully. A review of this episode shows that the Riksbank did not face any technical problems in achieving a stable CPI. JEL Codes: E52, E58, N14 Citation: Black, ...

This paper studies the relationship between inflation, output, money and interest rates in the euro area, using data spanning 1980–2000. The P model is shown to have considerable empirical support. Thus, the “price gap” or, equivalently, the “real money gap” (the gap between current real balances and long-run equilibrium real balances), has substantial predictive power for future inflation. The...

We examine global dynamics under infinite-horizon learning in New Keynesian models where the interest-rate rule is subject to the zero lower bound. The intended steady state is locally but not globally stable. Unstable deflationary paths emerge after large pessimistic shocks to expectations. For large expectation shocks that push interest rates to the zero bound, a temporary fiscal stimulus, or...

We investigate reactions to sunspots in a bank-run game in a controlled laboratory environment. The sunspot variable is a series of random public announcements predicting withdrawal outcomes. The treatment variable is the coordination parameter, defined as the minimum fraction of depositors required to wait so that waiting entails a higher payoff than withdrawing. We conduct treatments with hig...

When the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates binds, monetary policy cannot provide appropriate stimulus. We show that in the standard New Keynesian model, tax policy can deliver such stimulus at no cost and in a time-consistent manner. There is no need to use ine¢ cient policies such as wasteful public spending or future commitments to in‡ate. We conclude that in the New Keynesian model,...

Uniform-price auctions of a divisible good in fixed supply admit underpricing equilibria, where bidders submit high inframarginal bids to prevent competition on prices. The seller can obstruct this behavior by tilting her supply schedule and making the amount of divisible good on offer change endogenously with its (uniform) price. Precommitting to an increasing supply curve is a strategic instr...

The imperfect nature of resource mobility plays a surprisingly small role in most policy models. In the standard benchmark new Keynesian model, for example, it is costly for firms to adjust their selling prices, but these same firms can costlessly hire and fire workers and both workers and capital can costlessly shift from one firm to another. In this paper, I review some of the implications fo...

The optimal weights on indicators in models with partial information about the state of the economy and forward-looking variables are derived and interpreted, both for equilibria under discretion and under commitment. An example of optimal monetary policy with a partially observable potential output and a forward-looking indicator is examined. The optimal response to the optimal estimate of pot...

This paper argues that inflation-targeting central banks should announce explicit loss function with numerical relative weights on output-gap stabilization and use and announce optimal time-varying instrument-rate paths and corresponding inflation and output-gap forecasts. Simple voting procedures for forming the Monetary Policy Committee’s aggregate loss function and time-varying instrument-ra...

Do low interest rate environments lead to greater bank risk-taking? We show that, when banks can adjust their capital structures, reductions in real interest rates lead to greater leverage and higher risk for any downward sloping loan demand function. However, if the capital structure is fixed, the effect depends on the degree of leverage: following a decrease in interest rates, well capitalize...