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Forecast-based monetary policy

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  • Jeffery D. Amato
  • Thomas Laubach

Abstract

A number of central banks use (published or unpublished) forecasts of goal variables as key ingredients in their decisions for instrument settings. This use of forecasts is modelled as a particular form of objective with the minimization of which the central bank is charged. We use an estimated optimization-based model with staggered price and wage setting to analyze the welfare properties of such objectives and their implications for the form of instrument rules. We find that stabilizing expected price inflation at a horizon of two years around target dominates policies of stabilizing inflation at shorter or longer horizons. However, stabilizing all fluctuations, not just forecastable ones, in both wage and price inflation leads to the closest approximation to the welfare-optimal rule.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffery D. Amato & Thomas Laubach, 1999. "Forecast-based monetary policy," Research Working Paper 99-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedkrw:99-10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Jeffery D. Amato & Thomas Laubach, 1999. "Monetary policy in an estimated optimization-based model with sticky prices and wages," Research Working Paper RWP 99-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
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    Cited by:

    1. Smets, Frank, 2000. "What horizon for price stability," Working Paper Series 0024, European Central Bank.
    2. Anton Muscatelli & Carmine Trecroci, 2000. "Monetary Policy Rules, Policy Preferences, and Uncertainty: Recent Empirical Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 597-627, December.
    3. Orphanides, Athanasios, 2004. "Monetary Policy Rules, Macroeconomic Stability, and Inflation: A View from the Trenches," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 151-175, April.
    4. Jansson, Per & Vredin, Anders, 2001. "Forecast-based Monetary Policy in Sweden 1992-1998: A View from Within," Working Paper Series 120, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    5. Jansson, Per & Vredin, Anders, 2003. "Forecast-Based Monetary Policy: The Case of Sweden," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 349-380, Winter.
    6. Lance J. Bachmeier & Norman R. Swanson, 2005. "Predicting Inflation: Does The Quantity Theory Help?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 43(3), pages 570-585, July.
    7. Ahmad, Saad, 2016. "A multiple threshold analysis of the Fed's balancing act during the Great Moderation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 343-358.
    8. Per Jansson & Anders Vredin, 2001. "Forecast-based monetary policy in Sweden 1992-98: a view from within," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Empirical studies of structural changes and inflation, volume 3, pages 204-226, Bank for International Settlements.
    9. Orphanides, Athanasios, 2004. "Monetary Policy Rules, Macroeconomic Stability, and Inflation: A View from the Trenches," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 151-175, April.

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    Keywords

    Monetary policy; Forecasting;

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