IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wea/econth/v4y2015i1p21-46.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Credit and Prices in Woodford's New Neoclassical Synthesis

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Tobon

    (Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia and UniversiteÌ Jean Monnet, France)

  • Nicolas Barbaroux

    (Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia and UniversiteÌ Jean Monnet, France)

Abstract

Following recent debates on the New Neoclassical Synthesis, the theory of monetary policy has been renewed. The prevailing method, illustrated by Woodford's version of Interest and Prices, is a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model in which the old LM curve is voluntarily substituted by an optimal monetary rule. Such a turning point requires a peculiar set of assumptions, especially regarding monetary prices. The recent debate pays attention to de-emphasis on the nominal monetary aggregate, which does not play any explicit role in monetary policy deliberations. Following Calvo's model, Woodford's neo-Wicksellian framework only considered monetary prices in equilibrium. This article demonstrates that even though the New Neoclassical Synthesis considers it essential to have a monetary theory for policymaking, the former offers the same answers as the traditional static macroeconomics. More precisely, it shows that the use of dynamic optimisation – such as the one developed by Woodford's approach – does not contribute in a decisive way to improving our understanding of the role that money prices play in monetary theory. Woodford's canvas is silent about the mechanisms whereby monetary policy induces agents to adjust individual money prices to the values that generate an equilibrium price level. Thus, if we want to close this gap, it may be useful to consider a 'forward guidance' strategy. By means of such a tool, central bankers are able to shape the public's expectations on economic outcomes by pre-announcing the time path of future policy actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Tobon & Nicolas Barbaroux, 2015. "Credit and Prices in Woodford's New Neoclassical Synthesis," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(1), pages 21-46, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:21-46
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/papers/credit-and-prices-in-woodfords-new-neoclassical-synthesis/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/WEA-ET-4-1-Tobon-Barbaroux.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mauro Boianovsky & Hans-Michael Trautwein, 2001. "An Early Manuscript by Knut Wicksell on the Bank Rate of Interest," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 485-508, Fall.
    2. Colin Rogers, 2011. "The Failure of Woodford's Model of the Channel System in the Cashless Economy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43, pages 553-563, March.
    3. Michael Woodford, 1998. "Doing Without Money: Controlling Inflation in a Post-Monetary World," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(1), pages 173-219, January.
    4. Marvin Goodfriend & Robert G. King, 1997. "The New Neoclassical Synthesis and the Role of Monetary Policy," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1997, Volume 12, pages 231-296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Mark Gertler & Jordi Gali & Richard Clarida, 1999. "The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1661-1707, December.
    6. Hans-Michael Trautwein & Abdallah Zouache, 2009. "Natural rates in the New Synthesis: Same old trouble?," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 6(2), pages 207-225.
    7. Alexander Tobon, 2006. "On Prices in Myrdal’s Monetary Theory," History of Economics Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 88-100, January.
    8. repec:fth:harver:1470 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Bennett T. McCallum, 2003. "Monetary Policy in Economies with Little or No Money," NBER Working Papers 9838, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Michael Woodford, 2008. "How Important Is Money in the Conduct of Monetary Policy?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(8), pages 1561-1598, December.
    11. Steinar Strøm & Björn Thalberg (ed.), 1979. "The Theoretical Contributions of Knut Wicksell," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-04207-4.
    12. Mankiw, N Gregory, 1990. "A Quick Refresher Course in Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 1645-1660, December.
    13. Laidler, David, 2006. "Woodford and Wicksell on Interest and Prices: The Place of the Pure Credit Economy in the Theory of Monetary Policy," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 151-159, June.
    14. C. Rogers, 2006. "Doing without money: a critical assessment of Woodford's analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 30(2), pages 293-306, March.
    15. Marvin Goodfriend, 2004. "Monetary policy in the new neoclassical synthesis : a primer," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 90(Sum), pages 21-45.
    16. Hoover, Kevin D., 2006. "A Neowicksellian in a New Classical World: The Methodology of Michael Woodford's Interest and Prices," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(02), pages 143-149, June.
    17. Michael Woodford, 2009. "Convergence in Macroeconomics: Elements of the New Synthesis," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 267-279, January.
    18. Marvin Goodfriend & Robert G. King, 2001. "The Case for Price Stability," NBER Working Papers 8423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Nicolas Barbaroux, 2013. "Monetary Policy in Theory and Practice: Facing Internal vs External Stability Dilemma," Post-Print halshs-00667705, HAL.
    20. Gauti B. Eggertsson & Michael Woodford, 2003. "The Zero Bound on Interest Rates and Optimal Monetary Policy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 34(1), pages 139-235.
    21. Ronny Mazzocchi & Roberto Tamborini & Hans-Michael Trautwein, 2009. "The Two Triangles: what did Wicksell and Keynes know about macroeconomics that modern economists do not (consider)?," Department of Economics Working Papers 0906, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    22. Calvo, Guillermo A., 1983. "Staggered prices in a utility-maximizing framework," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 383-398, September.
    23. Laidler,David, 1999. "Fabricating the Keynesian Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521641739.
    24. Marc Lavoie & Mario Seccareccia (ed.), 2004. "Central Banking in the Modern World," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3297.
    25. McCallum, Bennett T., 1985. "Bank deregulation, accounting systems of exchange, and the unit of account: A critical review," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 13-45, January.
    26. Mark Gertler & Jordi Gali & Richard Clarida, 1999. "The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1661-1707, December.
    27. Roberto Tamborini, 2006. "Back to Wicksell? In search of the foundations of practical monetary policy," Department of Economics Working Papers 0602, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    28. Mauro Boianovsky & Hans-Michael Trautwein, 2006. "Price expectations, capital accumulation and employment: Lindahl's macroeconomics from the 1920s to the 1950s," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 30(6), pages 881-900, November.
    29. Taylor, John B., 1993. "Discretion versus policy rules in practice," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 195-214, December.
    30. David Romer, 1993. "The New Keynesian Synthesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 5-22, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Correa Romar, 2015. "The Coordination Problem in the Stockholm School," Journal of Heterodox Economics, Sciendo, vol. 2(2), pages 138-150, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. P Arestis & A Mihailov, 2009. "Flexible Rules cum Constrained Discretion: A New Consensus in Monetary Policy," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 14(2), pages 27-54, September.
    2. Ronny Mazzocchi, 2013. "Scope and Flaws of the New Neoclassical Synthesis," DEM Discussion Papers 2013/13, Department of Economics and Management.
    3. Robert G. King, 2000. "The new IS-LM model : language, logic, and limits," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Sum, pages 45-103.
    4. Pedro Garcia Duarte, 2012. "Not Going Away? Microfoundations in the Making of a New Consensus in Macroeconomics," Chapters, in: Microfoundations Reconsidered, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Ronny Mazzocchi, 2013. "Investment-Saving Imbalances with Endogenous Capital Stock," DEM Discussion Papers 2013/14, Department of Economics and Management.
    6. Pedro Garcia Duarte & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2012. "Microfoundations Reconsidered," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14869.
    7. Adnan Haider Bukhari & Safdar Ullah Khan, 2008. "A Small Open Economy DSGE Model for Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 963-1008.
    8. Bennett T. McCallum, 2000. "The Present and Future of Monetary Policy Rules," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 273-286, July.
    9. Marvin Goodfriend, 2004. "Monetary policy in the new neoclassical synthesis : a primer," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 90(Sum), pages 21-45.
    10. Beck, Guenter W. & Wieland, Volker, 2008. "Central bank misperceptions and the role of money in interest-rate rules," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(Supplemen), pages 1-17, October.
    11. Adnan Haider & Musleh ud Din & Ejaz Ghani, 2012. "Monetary Policy, Informality and Business Cycle Fluctuations in a Developing Economy Vulnerable to External Shocks," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 609-681.
    12. Barbaroux, Nicolas, 2008. "The Wicksellian Flavour in Macroeconomics," Perfil de Coyuntura Económica, Universidad de Antioquia, CIE, August.
    13. Frederic S. Mishkin, 2007. "Will Monetary Policy Become More of a Science?," NBER Working Papers 13566, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Andrew T. Levin & Alexei Onatski & John Williams & Noah M. Williams, 2006. "Monetary Policy under Uncertainty in Micro-Founded Macroeconometric Models," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2005, Volume 20, pages 229-312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Robert Amano & Malik Shukayev, 2012. "Risk Premium Shocks and the Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(8), pages 1475-1505, December.
    16. Romina Bafile & Alessandro Piergallini, 2017. "Firms’ money demand and monetary policy," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 350-382, August.
    17. Marvin Goodfriend, 2007. "How the World Achieved Consensus on Monetary Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 47-68, Fall.
    18. repec:rdg:wpaper:em-dp2007-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Benigno, Pierpaolo, 2015. "New-Keynesian economics: An AS–AD view," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 503-524.
    20. Sylvie Rivot, 2015. "Rule-based frameworks in historical perspective: Keynes' and Friedman's monetary policies versus contemporary policy-rules," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 601-633, August.
    21. Marc Giannoni & Michael Woodford, 2004. "Optimal Inflation-Targeting Rules," NBER Chapters, in: The Inflation-Targeting Debate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:21-46. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jake McMurchie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/worecea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.