The optimal weights on indicators in models with partial information about the state of the economy and forward-looking variables are derived and interpreted, both for equilibria under discretion and under commitment. An example of optimal monetary policy with a partially observable potential output and a forward-looking indicator is examined. The optimal response to the optimal estimate of pot...

The discussion about country-specific influence on the interest rate decisions of the European Central Bank does not cease. To investigate the possibility of regional influence on the determination of the policy rate, we estimate Taylor-type reaction functions for the period from 1999 to 2005 and include country-specific variables of the euro zone member states. We do not find convincing eviden...

This paper extends Woodford’s (2010) approach to the robustly monetary policy to a general linear quadratic framework. We provide algorithms to solve for a time-invariant linear robustly optimal policy from a timeless perspective and for a time-invariant linear Markov perfect equilibrium under discretion. We apply our methods to a New Keynesian model of monetary policy with persistent cost-push...

We analyze the impact of news (information shocks) in economies where liquidity plays a role. While we also consider news about real factors, like productivity, one motivation is that central bank announcements evidently affect markets, as taken for granted by advocates of forward guidance policy. The dynamic effects can be complicated, with information about monetary policy or real factors aff...

We use a state-dependent model where pricing rules are optimal to examine the costs of a money-based disinflation under various assumptions about the credibility of the policy change. Our analysis allows us to relate actual credibility and future inflation inertia to the asymmetry of the price deviation distribution. An important implication of our statedependent setting is that disinflation ca...

We consider inflation and debt dynamics under a global interest rate rule when private agents forecast using adaptive learning. Given the zero lower bound on interest rates, active interest rate rules are known to imply the existence of a second, low-inflation steady state. Under learning the economy can slip below this low-inflation steady state and be driven to an even lower inflation floor s...

This paper documents some new empirical results about the monetary policy and long-term interest rates in the United States. It shows that changes in the monetary policy stance are more predictable to the bond market in the 1990s than in the 1970s. This shift in the predictability of the monetary policy actions affects the policy’s impact on long-term interest rates as well as the forecasting p...

This paper examines equilibrium determination under different monetary policy regimes when the government might default on its debt. We apply a cash-inadvance model where the government does not have access to non-distortionary taxation and does not account for initial outstanding debt when it sets the income tax rate. Solvency is then not guaranteed and sovereign default can affect the return ...

This paper empirically analyzes the non-monotonic influence that interest rate changes have on irreversible investment in income producing properties. Using the complete history of quarterly capital improvements for 1,416 commercial properties over the 1978 to 2009 period, we find strong evidence of the non-monotonic effect for apartment, office, and retail properties, but not for industrial pr...

This paper develops a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with sticky prices where agents have imperfect information on the stance and direction of monetary policy. Agents respond by using Kalman filtering to unravel persistent and temporary monetary policy changes in order to form optimal forecasts of future policy actions. Our results show that a sticky price model with imperf...