We study the international monetary policy design problem within an optimizing two-country sticky price model, where each country faces a short run trade-off between output and inflation. The model is sufficiently tractable to solve analytically. We find that in the Nash equilibrium, the policy...

This paper reviews the recent literature on monetary policy rules. We exposit the monetary policy design problem within a simple baseline theoretical framework. We then consider the implications of adding various real world complications. Among other things, we show that the optimal policy...

This paper reports estimates of monetary policy reaction functions for two sets of countries: the G3 (Germany, Japan and the United States) and the E3 (France, Italy and the United Kingdom). It finds that since 1979 each of the G3 central banks has pursued an implicit form of inflation...

We estimate a forward-looking monetary policy reaction function for the US economy, pre- and post-October 1979. Our results point to substantial differences in the estimated rule across periods. In particular, interest rate policy in the Volcker-Greenspan period appears to have been much more...

This paper challenges the widespread view that forward exchange premia contain little information regarding subsequent spot rate movements. Using weekly dollar/Deutschmark and dollar/sterling data, we show that spot and forward exchange rates are well represented by a vector error correction...

A large literature suggests that standard exchange rate models cannot outperform a random walk forecast and that the forward rate is not an optimal predictor of the spot rate. There is evidence, however, that the term structure of forward premia contains valuable information for forecasting...

We examine the relationship between interest rates of different maturities for the US, Germany and Japan over the period 1982-2000, using a general, multivariate vector equilibrium correction modelling framework capable of simultaneously allowing for asymmetric adjustment and regime shifts. This...

Our answer: not so well. We reach that conclusion after reviewing recent research on the role of technology as a source of economic fluctuations. The bulk of the evidence suggests a limited role for aggregate technology shocks, pointing instead to demand factors as the main force behind the...

We construct a utility-based model of fluctuations, with nominal rigidities and unemployment, and draw its implications for the unemployment-inflation trade-off and for the conduct of monetary policy. We proceed in two steps. We first leave nominal rigidities aside. We show that, under a...

Recent evidence suggests that consumption rises in response to an increase in government spending. That finding cannot be easily reconciled with existing optimizing business cycle models. We extend the standard new Keynesian model to allow for the presence of rule-of-thumb consumers. We show how...