Optimal Time Consistent Monetary Policy

We discuss the issue of time consistency of monetary policy. We develop a simple and intuitive procedure to derive analytically the unconditionally optimal (UO) policy in a general linear-quadratic set-up, a perspective stressed by Taylor (1979) and Whiteman (1986). We compare the UO perspective on optimal monetary policy with alternative approaches. We use our approach in simple backward- and forward-looking models and argue that the UO perspective is worthy of renewed interest