We develop a new way to test hypotheses about policymakers' targets and implement that test for Canadian monetary policy. For example, if the Bank of Canada is targeting a 2 per cent inflation rate, and if the Bank's instrument takes eight quarters to affect inflation, then deviations of...

The authors compare universal social programs with targeted social benefits. They define 'universality' as separability of the tax/transfer system in income and other nonmonetary attributes, and introduce the concept of 'parallel equity'--a requirement that like differences in needs should be...

This paper presents a formal general-equilibrium model of a monetary economy in which agents' decision rules are derived from the underlying preferences, technology, endowments, and information. Firms face kinked demand curves for the reason given by J. Stiglitz (1979)-customers know the price...