We studied the cyclical and growth properties of Brazilian per capita output from 1850 to 2000. Contrary to the experience of some developed countries, we did not find large changes in the volatility of per capita output. However, we obtained evidence that the oscillations in economic activity...

If the central bank attempts to minimize a welfare loss function in a small-open economy model with nominal wage and price rigidities, it has been argued that a monetary policy rule that responds to consumer price index (CPI) inflation performs better than rules that react to competing inflation...

We quantitatively compare three macroeconomic policies in a cash-credit goods framework. The policies are: the optimal one; another one that fully smoothes out oscillations in output; and a simple one that prescribes constant values for tax and monetary growth rates. As often found in the related...

We estimate small open economy models in which inflation targeting central banks respond to a discounted infinite sum of expected inflation and output gaps (Calvo-type rules). The results support Calvo-type rules for Australia and Canada, and suggest longer targeting horizons for inflation...