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The Signaling Effect of Raising Inflation

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  • Mengus, Eric

  • Barthelemy, Jean

Abstract

This paper argues that central bankers should temporarily raise inflation when anticipating liquidity traps to signal their credibility to forward guidance policies. As stable inflation in normal times either stems from central banker's credibility, e.g. through reputation, or from his aversion to inflation, the private sector is unable to infer the central banker's type from observing stable inflation, jeopardizing the efficiency of forward guidance policy. We show that this signaling motive can justify temporary deviations of inflation from target well above 2% but also that the low inflation volatility during the Great Moderation was insufficient to ensure fully efficient forward guidance when needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Mengus, Eric & Barthelemy, Jean, 2016. "The Signaling Effect of Raising Inflation," HEC Research Papers Series 1162, HEC Paris, revised 09 Jan 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:heccah:1162
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    2. Calvin He, 2021. "Monetary Policy, Equity Markets and the Information Effect," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2021-04, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Philippe Andrade & Gaetano Gaballo & Eric Mengus & Benoît Mojon, 2019. "Forward Guidance and Heterogeneous Beliefs," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 1-29, July.
    4. Philippe Andrade & Erwan Gautier & Eric Mengus & Emanuel Moench, 2025. "Household Beliefs about Fiscal Dominance," Working Papers 25-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    5. Mengus, Eric & Barthelemy, Jean, 2017. "Monetary Rules, Determinacy and Limited Enforcement," HEC Research Papers Series 1202, HEC Paris, revised 11 May 2019.
    6. Peter Tillmann, 2019. "Robust Monetary Policy Under Uncertainty About the Lower Bound," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201914, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    7. Batista, Quentin & Nakata, Taisuke & Sunakawa, Takeki, 2023. "Credible Forward Guidance," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    8. Tillmann Peter, 2021. "Robust Monetary Policy Under Uncertainty About the Lower Bound," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 21(1), pages 309-321, January.
    9. Michael J. Lamla & Damjan Pfajfar & Lea Rendell, 2024. "Inflation and Deflationary Biases in the Distribution of Inflation Expectations: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Nine Countries," Working Papers 24-26, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes

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