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Measuring Price-Level Uncertainty and Instability in the United States, 1850–2012

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy Cogley

    (New York University)

  • Thomas J. Sargent

    (New York University)

Abstract

We measure price-level uncertainty and instability in the United States over the period 1850 to 2012. Major outbreaks of price-level uncertainty and instability occur both before and after World War II, alternating with three price-level moderations: one near the turn of the twentieth century, another under Bretton Woods, and a third in the 1990s. There is no evidence that the price level was systematically more stable or less uncertain before or after World War II. Moderations sometimes involved links to gold, but the experience of the 1990s proves that a well-managed fiat regime can achieve the same outcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Cogley & Thomas J. Sargent, 2015. "Measuring Price-Level Uncertainty and Instability in the United States, 1850–2012," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(4), pages 827-838, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:97:y:2015:i:4:p:827-838
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Delle Monache, Davide & Petrella, Ivan, 2017. "Adaptive models and heavy tails with an application to inflation forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 482-501.
    2. Gerlach, Stefan & Stuart, Rebecca, 2021. "International Co-movements of Inflation, 1851-1913," CEPR Discussion Papers 15914, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Bredin, Don & Fountas, Stilianos, 2018. "US inflation and inflation uncertainty over 200 years," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 141-159, August.
    4. Manuel Gonzalez-Astudillo & Jean-Philippe Laforte, 2020. "Estimates of r* Consistent with a Supply-Side Structure and a Monetary Policy Rule for the U.S. Economy," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-085, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Marco Bassetto & Thomas J. Sargent, 2020. "Shotgun Wedding: Fiscal and Monetary Policy," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 659-690, August.
    6. Pooyan Amir‐Ahmadi & Christian Matthes & Mu‐Chun Wang, 2016. "Drifts and volatilities under measurement error: Assessing monetary policy shocks over the last century," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 7(2), pages 591-611, July.
    7. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2019. "Trend, Seasonal, and Sectoral Inflation in the Euro Area," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 847, Central Bank of Chile.
    8. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2020. "Trend, Seasonal, and Sectorial Inflation in the Euro Area," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Gonzalo Castex & Jordi Galí & Diego Saravia (ed.),Changing Inflation Dynamics,Evolving Monetary Policy, edition 1, volume 27, chapter 9, pages 317-344, Central Bank of Chile.
    9. James M. Nason & Gregor W. Smith, 2021. "UK Inflation Forecasts since the Thirteenth Century," Working Paper 1454, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    10. Chen, Ji & Yang, Xinglin & Liu, Xiliang, 2022. "Learning, disagreement and inflation forecasting," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    11. McNeil, James, 2023. "Monetary policy and the term structure of inflation expectations with information frictions," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Daniel Kaufmann, 2019. "Nominal stability over two centuries," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Pooyan Amir-Ahmadi & Christian Matthes & Mu-Chun Wang, 2016. "Choosing Prior Hyperparameters," Working Paper 16-9, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    14. Ho, Paul, 2023. "Global robust Bayesian analysis in large models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 608-642.
    15. Njindan Iyke, Bernard, 2016. "Are Monetary Policy Disturbances Important in Ghana? Some Evidence from Agnostic Identification," MPRA Paper 70205, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Hakan Berument & Ezequiel Cabezon & Richard Froyen, 2017. "A century and three-quarters of Bank Rate and long-term interest rates in the United Kingdom," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 26-47, March.
    17. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2019. "Trend, Seasonal, and Sectoral Inflation in the Euro Area," Working Papers 2019-30, Princeton University. Economics Department..

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Price stability; inflation uncertainty; deflation risk; gold standard; Bretton Woods; stochastic volatility; measurement error; nonlinear signal extraction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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