DSGE models and their use in monetary policy

The past 10 years or so have seen the development of a new class of models that are proving useful for monetary policy: dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models. Many central banks around the world, including the Swedish central bank, the European Central Bank, the Norwegian central bank, and the Federal Reserve, use these models in formulating monetary policy. In this article, Mike Dotsey discusses the major features of DSGE models and why these models are useful to monetary policymakers. He outlines the general way in which they are used in conjunction with other tools commonly employed by monetary policymakers and points out the promise of using these models as well as the pitfalls.