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The Conquest of South American Inflation

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  • Thomas Sargent
  • Noah Williams
  • Tao Zha

Abstract

We infer determinants of Latin American hyperinflations and stabilizations by using the method of maximum likelihood to estimate a hidden Markov model that assigns roles both to fundamentals in the form of government deficits that are financed by money creation and to destabilizing expectations dynamics that can occasionally divorce inflation from fundamentals. Levels and conditional volatilities of monetized deficits drove most hyperinflations and stabilizations, with a notable exception in Peru, where a cosmetic reform of the type emphasized by Marcet and Nicolini occurred. (c) 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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  • Thomas Sargent & Noah Williams & Tao Zha, 2009. "The Conquest of South American Inflation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(2), pages 211-256, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:117:y:2009:i:2:p:211-256
    DOI: 10.1086/599014
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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    1. The Conquest of South American Inflation (JPE 2009) in ReplicationWiki

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