Inflation targeting drawbacks in the absence of a 'natural' anchor

The economic performances of the Eurozone look weaker than those of the United States overthe period 1999-2006, in spite of the fact that the former applies more thoroughly the 'newmacroeconomics' governance rules concerning public deficits and inflation control. Theliterature emphasizes Alan Greenspan's pragmatism when discussing the relative success ofthe Fed, but the reasons why pragmatism ought to do better than a thorough application of the'new macroeconomics' theoretical recommendations remain unexplored. The paper focuses onthe advantage of monetary policy pragmatism in the face of Keynesian uncertainty. Morespecifically, it points out the trials of the 'new macroeconomics' principles of monetary policywhen they are implemented in a Keynesian context, that is, within a system which does nothave any 'natural' anchor.