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The Exchange Rate Insulation Puzzle

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  • Kuester, Keith
  • Corsetti, Giancarlo
  • Müller, Gernot
  • Schmidt, Sebastian

Abstract

The notion that flexible exchange rates insulate a country from foreign shocks is well grounded in theory, from the classics (Meade, 1951; Friedman 1953), to the more recent open economy literature (Obstfeld and Rogoff, 2000). We confront it with new evidence from Europe. Specifically, we study how shocks that originate in the euro area spill over to its neighboring countries. We exploit the variation of the exchange rate regime across time and countries to assess whether the regime alters the spillovers: it does not---flexible exchange rates fail to provide insulation against euro area shocks. This result is robust across a number of specifications and holds up once we control for global financial conditions. We show that the workhorse open-economy model can account for the lack of insulation under a float, assuming that central banks respond to headline consumer price inflation. However, it remains puzzling that policy makers are ready to forego stabilization of economic activity to the extent we found in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuester, Keith & Corsetti, Giancarlo & Müller, Gernot & Schmidt, Sebastian, 2021. "The Exchange Rate Insulation Puzzle," CEPR Discussion Papers 15689, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15689
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    Cited by:

    1. Georgiadis, Georgios & Müller, Gernot J. & Schumann, Ben, 2021. "Global risk and the dollar," Working Paper Series 2628, European Central Bank.
    2. Di Casola, Paola & Stockhammar, Pär, 2021. "When domestic and foreign QE overlap: evidence from Sweden," Working Paper Series 404, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    3. Pierre Olivier Gourinchas, 2023. "International Macroeconomics: From the Great Financial Crisis to COVID-19, and Beyond," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 1-34, March.
    4. Michele Ca’ Zorzi & Luca Dedola & Georgios Georgiadis & Marek Jarocinski & Livio Stracca & Georg Strasser, 2023. "Making Waves: Monetary Policy and Its Asymmetric Transmission in a Globalized World," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 19(2), pages 95-144, June.
    5. Wellmann, Susanne, 2023. "The Phillips curve in the euro area: New evidence using country-level data," University of Tübingen Working Papers in Business and Economics 156, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, School of Business and Economics.
    6. Hongyi Chen & Peter Tillmann, 2022. "Lockdown Spillovers," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202215, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    7. Georgios Georgiadis & Gernot J. Müller & Ben Schumann, 2023. "Dollar Trinity and the Global Financial Cycle," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2058, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Corbo, Vesna & Di Casola, Paola, 2022. "Drivers of consumer prices and exchange rates in small open economies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. Chen, Hongyi & Tillmann, Peter, 2023. "Lockdown spillovers," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    10. Aquilante, Tommaso & Di Pace, Federico & Masolo, Riccardo M., 2022. "Exchange-rate and news: Evidence from the COVID pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    External shock; International spillovers; exchange rate; Insulation; Monetary policy; Dominant currency pricing; Effective lower bound;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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