This paper uses a two-country, monetary general equilibrium model with imperfect competition to study the optimal rate of inflation in an open economy. In contrast with the closed economy literature, when policy is set non-cooperatively in the open economy, the optimality of the Friedman rule -- setting the money growth rate such that the nominal interest rate goes to zero -- is not a general result. An optimizing monetary authority faces an incentive to use the inflation tax to gain a "beggar-thy-neighbor" advantage over the terms of trade. Strategic use of the inflation tax, however, results in a coordination failure that reduces overall welfare. International monetary cooperation helps to mitigate this coordination failure and, as a result, can lead to more efficient equilibria. An institutional arrangement such as a monetary union ensures the maximum gain from cooperation by restoring the optimality of the Friedman rule, placing the world economy at the pareto frontier
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Find related papers by JEL classification: E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
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Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2000.
"Optimal monetary policy,"
Working Paper
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Aubhik Khan & Robert King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2002.
"Optimal monetary policy,"
Working Papers
02-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
[Downloadable!]
Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2001.
"Optimal monetary policy,"
Working Papers
01-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
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Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2002.
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Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2003.
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Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(4), pages 825-860, October.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Russell Cooper & Hubert Kempf, 2003.
"Commitment and the Adoption of a Common Currency,"
International Economic Review,
Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(1), pages 119-142, February.
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Isabel Correia & Pedro Teles, 1999.
"The Optimal Inflation Tax,"
Review of Economic Dynamics,
Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(2), pages 325-346, April.
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