This paper uses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s model to combine a macroeconomic evaluation of the performance inflation targeting with an analysis of policy rules. The questions to answer are two: (i) what lessons can be obtained from the shocks that have been experienced and the response given to them?, and, (ii) which is the optimal response to different types of shock?. The model allows to treat some issues of interest for the implementation of this scheme, like the flexibility of the inflation target (which depends on the degree of credibility of the monetary authority), the optimal policy horizon (a intermediate horizon seems to achieve the best combination of inflation volatility and output) and the bandwidth (which implies a trade off between output volatility and inflation).
