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Forward guidance and "lower for longer": The case of the ECB

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  • Bletzinger, Tilman
  • Wieland, Volker

Abstract

A number of contributions to research on monetary policy have suggested that policy should be asymmetric near the lower bound on nominal interest rates. As inflation and economic activity decline, policy should ease more aggressively than it would in the absence of the lower bound. As activity recovers and inflation picks up, the central bank should act to keep interest rates lower for longer than without the bound. In this note, we investigate to what extent the policy easing implemented by the ECB since summer 2013 mirrors the rate recommendations of a simple policy rule or deviates from it in a way that indicates a "lower for longer" approach to policy near zero interest rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Bletzinger, Tilman & Wieland, Volker, 2016. "Forward guidance and "lower for longer": The case of the ECB," CEPR Discussion Papers 11117, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11117
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    Cited by:

    1. Hartmann, Philipp & Smets, Frank, 2018. "The first twenty years of the European Central Bank: monetary policy," Working Paper Series 2219, European Central Bank.
    2. Ansgar Belke & Jens Klose, 2019. "Forecasting ECB Policy Rates with Different Monetary Policy Rules," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 69(3), pages 238-252, June.
    3. John B. Taylor & Volker Wieland, 2016. "Finding the Equilibrium Real Interest Rate in a Fog of Policy Deviations," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 147-154, July.
    4. Paul Hubert & Fabien Labondance, 2016. "The Effect of ECB Forward Guidance on Policy Expectations," Working Papers hal-01394821, HAL.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2g6qj1trtu8q2r79ee4jp49krd is not listed on IDEAS
    6. van Holle, Frederiek, 2017. "Essays in empirical finance and monetary policy," Other publications TiSEM 30d11a4b-7bc9-4c81-ad24-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Carlos J. Rodríguez Fuentes & David Padrón Marrero, 2019. "The ECB monetary strategy: A critical assessment," Revista de Economía Crítica, Asociación de Economía Crítica, vol. 27, pages 16-31.
    8. Bletzinger, Tilman & Wieland, Volker, 2017. "Lower for longer: The case of the ECB," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 123-127.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    European Central Bank; forward guidance; interest rates; Monetary policy; zero bound;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E47 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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