There has been much talk in the popular press about the difficulty of attaining credibility in the bond markets for the low-inflation policies that have been adopted by a number of central banks in recent years. This credibility problem is particularly severe for those countries that have a history of high inflation. Gaining credibility is often viewed in the context of learning by the public about the central bank's true intentions. However, this paper argues that a more important aspect of credibility - at least for long-term inflation expectations - may be public views about how future changes in personnel, electoral results, or economic shocks may affect central bank behaviour. In other words, there is always a positive probability that the current regime will end. Views about the nature of possible future regimes are likely to be influenced by observed past regimes.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
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.:
Driffill, John & Mizon, Grayham E. & Ulph, Alistair, 1990.
"Costs of inflation,"
Handbook of Monetary Economics,
in: B. M. Friedman & F. H. Hahn (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 19, pages 1013-1066
Elsevier.
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Driffill, John & Mizon, Grayham Ernest & Ulph, Alistair Mitchell, 1989.
"Costs of Inflation,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
293, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Woodford, Michael, 1990.
"The optimum quantity of money,"
Handbook of Monetary Economics,
in: B. M. Friedman & F. H. Hahn (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 20, pages 1067-1152
Elsevier.
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