We present a simple macroeconomic model that includes a role for an asset-price bubble. We then derive optimal monetary policy settings for two policymakers: a skeptic, for whom the best forecast of future asset prices is the current price; and an activist, whose policy recommendations take into...

The output gap is of central interest to policymakers. Being unobservable, however, its estimation is prone to error, particularly in real time. Errors result from revisions to the data and unavoidable end-point problems associated with the econometric techniques used to estimate it. This is the...

The Australian labour market has performed relatively well over the past two years or so, compared with its performance in the early 1980s and 1990s recessions and in a recent international context. This is partly explained by the milder downturn in economic activity, the earlier strength of the...

Large increases in the prices of utilities have been a notable feature of consumer price inflation in Australia in recent years, and further large increases are anticipated over the next few years. The recent price rises reflect the move towards cost-based pricing, the need to replace and expand...