This paper examines the optimal monetary policy under discretion using a small macroeconomic model that allows for varying degrees of forward-looking behavior. We quantify how forward-looking behavior affects the optimal response to inflation and the output gap in the central bank's interest...

Empirical estimates of the Federal Reserve's policy rule typically find that the regression coefficient on the lagged federal funds rate is around 0.8 and strongly significant. One economic interpretation of this result is that the Fed intentionally "smoothes" interest rates, i.e., policymakers...

This paper derives a closed-form solution for the optimal discretionary monetary policy in a small macroeconomic model that allows for varying degrees of forward-looking behavior. We show that a more forward-looking aggregate demand equation serves to attenuate the response to inflation and the...