Evolving U.S. monetary policy and the decline of inflation predictability

Using a structural VAR with time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility on post-WWII U.S. data, we document a striking negative correlation between the evolution of the long-run coefficient on inflation in the monetary rule and the evolution of the persistence and predictability of inflation relative to a trend component. Using a standard sticky-price model, we show that a more aggressive policy stance towards inflation causes a decline in inflation predictability, providing a possible interpretation for the findings of the structural VAR. JEL Classification: E37, E52, E58