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The Monetarist Policy Debate: An Informal Survey

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  • Thomas Mayer

    (Department of Economics, University of California Davis)

Abstract

This paper surveys the monetarist position on various aspects of American monetary policy in an informal way and provides the personal reactions of a participant observer in this debate. It emphasizes the intellectual milieu in which monetarism emerged, the background factors that facilitated that emergence, and the relation of monetarism both to ideology and to current thinking about monetary policy. Rather than focus on whether the monetarists were right or wrong, it evaluates some aspects of the effectiveness with which the debate was conducted.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Mayer, 2003. "The Monetarist Policy Debate: An Informal Survey," Working Papers 299, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cda:wpaper:299
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    File URL: https://repec.dss.ucdavis.edu/files/Uq2AYjvosDYDC1vqmYePrncJ/03-9.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Leeson, 2000. "The Eclipse of Keynesianism," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-333-98565-6, December.
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    5. Christina D. Romer & David H. Romer, 2002. "A Rehabilitation of Monetary Policy in the 1950's," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 121-127, May.
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    14. McCallum, Bennett T, 1995. "Two Fallacies Concerning Central-Bank Independence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 207-211, May.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monetarism; monetarist policy; Friedman; Brunner; Meltzer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • B2 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925

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