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What horizon for price stability

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  • Smets, Frank

Abstract

This paper analyses in a unified framework the twin issues of the appropriate horizon for achieving price stability in the face of unexpected disturbances and the choice of a price level versus an inflation objective. Using a small estimated forward-looking model of the euro area economy, the three main findings are: 1) The policy horizon becomes shorter the greater the weight on price stability in society's objective function, the higher the degree of 'forward-lookingness' in the economy and the greater the slope of the Phillips curve; 2) The optimal policy horizon for a price level objective is generally greater than that for an inflation objective; 3) Even if society cares about inflation stabilisation (rather than the stabilisation of the price level), it often pays to give the central bank a price level objective (rather than an inflation objective), provided the horizon is optimally chosen to be somewhat longer and there is a small weight on interest rate stabilisation in the loss function. This result depends, however, on the structure of the economy. JEL Classification: E4, E5

Suggested Citation

  • Smets, Frank, 2000. "What horizon for price stability," Working Paper Series 24, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:200024
    Note: 58657
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    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp24.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    euro area; monetary policy; policy rules; strategy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E4 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

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