Both empirical evidence and theoretical discussion have long emphasized the impact of %u201Cnews%u201D on exchange rates. In most exchange rate models, the exchange rate acts as an asset price, and as such responds to news about future returns on assets. But the exchange rate also plays a role in determining the relative price of non-durable goods when nominal goods prices are sticky. In this paper we argue that these two roles may conflict with one another. If news about future asset returns causes movements in current exchange rates, then when nominal prices are slow to adjust, this may cause changes in current relative goods prices that have no efficiency rationale. In this sense, anticipations of future shocks to fundamentals can cause current exchange rate misalignments. Friedman%u2019s (1953) case for unfettered flexible exchange rates is overturned when exchange rates are asset prices. We outline a series of models in which an optimal policy eliminates the effects of news on exchange rates.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
12213.
Length: Date of creation: May 2006 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12213
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Find related papers by JEL classification: F3 - International Economics - - International Finance F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Maurice Obstfeld & Kenneth Rogoff, 1998.
"Risk and Exchange Rates,"
NBER Working Papers
6694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Obstfeld, M., 1998.
"Risk and Exchange Rate,"
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193, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
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