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Discretionary Inflation in a General Equilibrium Model

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  • Neiss, Katharine S

Abstract

This paper extends the Barro and Gordon (1983) model to a general equilibrium framework in which the costs and benefits to surprise inflation reflect the preferences, technology, and market structure of the economy. The benefit of such an approach is that we can relate the underlying features of the economy to the size of the inflation bias. In particular, it can be shown that an increase in the source of the monetary authority's incentive to inflate does not necessarily result in a worsened inflation bias due to offsetting changes in the cost of inflation. Furthermore, changes in the real interest rate affect the monetary authority's incentives and hence the discretionary level of inflation. Lastly, we can show that an increase in the labor share of national income worsens the inflation bias. The model also indicates the importance of a nominal rigidity, lack of policy precommitment, and a distortion for optimal monetary policy to be characterized by a level of discretionary inflation that exceeds the Friedman (1969) rule.

Suggested Citation

  • Neiss, Katharine S, 1999. "Discretionary Inflation in a General Equilibrium Model," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 31(3), pages 357-374, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:mcb:jmoncb:v:31:y:1999:i:3:p:357-74
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ellison, Martin & Rankin, Neil, 2007. "Optimal monetary policy when lump-sum taxes are unavailable: A reconsideration of the outcomes under commitment and discretion," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 219-243, January.
    2. Di Bartolomeo, Giovanni & Tirelli, Patrizio & Acocella, Nicola, 2014. "Trend inflation, the labor market wedge, and the non-vertical Phillips curve," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1022-1035.
    3. Francesco Lippi, 2003. "Strategic Monetary Policy with Non-Atomistic Wage Setters," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 909-919.
    4. Cuciniello, Vincenzo, 2009. "The impact of fiscal-monetary policy interactions on government size and macroeconomic performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 918-925, September.
    5. Stefania Albanesi & V. V. Chari & Lawrence J. Christiano, 2003. "Expectation Traps and Monetary Policy," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 715-741.
    6. Stefania Albanesi & V. V. Chari & Lawrence J. Christiano, 2003. "How severe is the time-inconsistency problem in monetary policy?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Sum, pages 17-33.
    7. Di Bartolomeo, Giovanni & Tirelli, Patrizio & Acocella, Nicola, 2012. "Inflation targets and endogenous wage markups in a New Keynesian model," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 391-403.
    8. Lombardo, Giovanni, 2006. "Inflation targeting rules and welfare in an asymmetric currency area," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 424-442, March.
    9. Di Bartolomeo Giovanni & Tirelli Patrizio & Acocella Nicola, 2010. "Trend inflation, endogenous mark-ups and the non-vertical Phillips curve," wp.comunite 0065, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    10. Giovanni Di Bartolomeo & Patrizio Tirelli & Nicola Acocella, 2008. "Trend inflation as a workers disciplining device in a general equilibrium model," Working Papers 142, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2008.
    11. David Arseneau, 2012. "Expectation traps in a new Keynesian open economy model," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 49(1), pages 81-112, January.
    12. Gustavo Piga, 2005. "On The Sources Of The Inflation Bias And Output Variability," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(4), pages 607-622, September.
    13. Patricia Bonini, 2004. "New Macroeconomics and Credibility Analysis," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pósgraduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 5(2), pages 341-359.
    14. Mark A. Wynne & Erasmus K. Kersting, 2007. "Openness and inflation," Staff Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Apr.
    15. Giovanni Di Bartolomeo & Patrizio Tirelli & Nicola Acocella, 2013. "Trend inflation as a workers’ discipline device," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 215-235, May.
    16. Giovanni Lombardo, "undated". "Sticky Prices, Markup and the Business Cycle: Some Evidence," Discussion Papers 01/06, Department of Economics, University of York.
    17. Enrique Martinez-Garcia & Mark A. Wynne, 2010. "The global slack hypothesis," Staff Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Sep.
    18. Cuciniello Vincenzo, 2008. "The effects of macroeconomic institutions on economic performance in a general equilibrium model," wp.comunite 0036, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    19. Dudley Cooke, 2004. "Openness and Inflation," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2004 99, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    20. Cooke, Dudley, 2006. "Openness and Inflation," Economics Discussion Papers 8907, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    21. Hans Gersbach & Volker Hahn, 2011. "Modeling Two Macro Policy Instruments - Interest Rates and Aggregate Capital Requirements," CESifo Working Paper Series 3598, CESifo Group Munich.

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