UNANCHORED EXPECTATIONS: SELF-REINFORCING LIQUIDITY TRAPS AND MULTIPLE STEADY STATES

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joep Lustenhouwer
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Steady States ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Multiple Steady States ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Expectation Values ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Liquidity Trap ◽  
Keynesian Model

We study a New Keynesian model with bounded rationality, where agents choose their expectations heterogeneously from a discrete choice set. The range of their set of possible expectation values can be interpreted as the anchoring of expectations. In the model, multiple locally stable steady states can arise that reflect coordination on particular expectation values. Moreover, bad shocks to the economy can trigger a self-reinforcing wave of pessimism, where the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate becomes binding, and agents coordinate on a locally stable liquidity trap steady state. When we let the anchoring of expectations evolve endogenously, it turns out that the anchoring of expectations at the time the bad shocks hit the economy is crucial in determining whether the economy can recover from the liquidity trap. Finally, we find that a higher inflation target makes it less likely that self-reinforcing liquidity traps arise.

scholarly journals Public Debt and Changing Inflation Targets

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael U. Krause ◽  
Stéphane Moyen
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Pronounced Effect ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Maturity Structure ◽  
Inflation Targets

What are the effects of a higher central bank inflation target on the burden of real public debt? Several recent proposals have suggested that even a moderate increase in the inflation target can have a pronounced effect on real public debt. We consider this question in a New Keynesian model with a maturity structure of public debt and an imperfectly observed inflation target. We find that moderate changes in the inflation target only have significant effects on real public debt if they are essentially permanent. Moreover, the additional benefits of not communicating a change in the inflation target are minor. (JEL E12, E31, E52, H63)

scholarly journals DESIGNING MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICY RULES IN A NEW KEYNESIAN MODEL WITH RULE-OF-THUMB CONSUMERS

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Ricardian Equivalence ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Policy Rules ◽  
Rule Of Thumb ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Monetary And Fiscal Policy

This paper studies the determinacy properties of monetary and fiscal policy rules in a small-scale New Keynesian model. We modify the standard model in two ways. First, we allow positive public debt in the steady state as in Leeper [Journal of Monetary Economics 27, 129–147 (1991)]. Second, we add rule-of-thumb consumers as in Bilbiie [Journal of Economic Theory 140, 162–196 (2008)]. Leeper studied a model in which Ricardian equivalence holds, and he showed that monetary and fiscal policy can be studied independently. In Bilbiie's analysis, rule-of-thumb consumers break the Ricardian equivalence and generate important consequences for the design of monetary policy. In his model, steady-state public debt was equal to zero. We study a model with both rule-of-thumb consumers and positive steady-state public debt. We find that the mix of fiscal and monetary policies that guarantees equilibrium determinacy is sensitive to the exact values of the parameters of the model.

scholarly journals Optimal Forward Guidance

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin O. Bilbiie
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium ◽  
Bad News ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Simple Rule ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Liquidity Trap ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic

Optimal forward guidance is the simple policy of keeping interest rates low for some optimally determined number of periods after the liquidity trap ends and moving to normal-times optimal policy thereafter. I solve for the optimal duration in closed form in a new Keynesian model and show that it is close to fully optimal Ramsey policy. The simple rule “announce a duration of half of the trap’s duration times the disruption” is a good approximation, including in a medium-scale dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. By anchoring expectations of Delphic agents (who mistake commitment for bad news), the simple rule is also often welfare-preferable to Odyssean commitment. (JEL D84, E12, E43, E52, E56)

scholarly journals What to Expect from the Lower Bound on Interest Rates: Evidence from Derivatives Prices

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (8) ◽  
pp. 2473-2505
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Mertens ◽  
John C. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Liquidity Trap ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Two Equilibria

This paper analyzes the effects of the lower bound for interest rates on the distributions of inflation and interest rates. In a New Keynesian model with a lower bound, two equilibria emerge: policy is mostly unconstrained in the “target equilibrium,” whereas policy is mostly constrained in the “liquidity trap equilibrium.” Using options data on interest rates and inflation, we find forecast densities consistent with the target equilibrium and find no evidence in favor of the liquidity trap equilibrium. The lower bound has a sizable effect on the distribution of interest rates, but its impact on inflation is relatively modest. (JEL E12, E23, E31, E43, E52, G13)

scholarly journals Inflation-Gap Persistence in the US

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Cogley ◽  
Giorgio E. Primiceri ◽  
Thomas J. Sargent
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Volatility ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Vector Autoregressions ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Trend Inflation ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Difference

We estimate vector autoregressions with drifting coefficients and stochastic volatility to investigate whether US inflation persistence has changed. We focus on the inflation gap, defined as the difference between inflation and trend inflation, and we measure persistence in terms of short- to medium-term predictability. We present evidence that inflation-gap persistence increased during the Great Inflation and that it fell after the Volcker disinflation. We interpret these changes using a dynamic new Keynesian model that highlights the importance of changes in the central bank's inflation target. (JEL E12, E31, E52, E58)

LEARNING THE INFLATION TARGET

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Nunes
Keyword(s):  
Rational Expectations ◽  
Solution Method ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Rule Of Thumb ◽  
Keynesian Model

We propose a framework in which expectations have a rational and a learning component. We describe a solution method for these frameworks and provide an application to the Volcker disinflation with the New Keynesian model. Although the model with rational expectations does not seem to account for this episode, results improve when a small and empirically plausible proportion of private agents are learning. The learning component is argued to be more robust and plausible than the rule-of-thumb expectations present in the hybrid Phillips curve.

scholarly journals Understanding HANK: Insights From a PRANK

Econometrica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 1113-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushant Acharya ◽  
Keshav Dogra
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Incomplete Markets ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Income Risk ◽  
Heterogeneous Agent ◽  
Liquidity Trap ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Keynesian Model

Using an analytically tractable heterogeneous agent New Keynesian model, we show that whether incomplete markets resolve New Keynesian “paradoxes” depends on the cyclicality of income risk. Incomplete markets reduce the effectiveness of forward guidance and multipliers in a liquidity trap only with procyclical risk. Countercyclical risk amplifies these “puzzles.” Procyclical risk permits determinacy under a peg; countercyclical risk may generate indeterminacy even under the Taylor principle. By affecting the cyclicality of risk, even “passive” fiscal policy influences the effects of monetary policy.

scholarly journals HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING AND POSITIVE OPTIMAL INFLATION

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Graham ◽  
Dennis J. Snower
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Hyperbolic Discounting ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Real Rate ◽  
Friedman Rule ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Economic Studies

The Friedman rule states that steady-state welfare is maximized when there is deflation at the real rate of interest. Recent work by Khan, King, and Wolman [Review of Economic Studies10 (4), 825–860] uses a richer model but still finds deflation optimal. In an otherwise standard New Keynesian model we show that, if households have hyperbolic discounting, small positive rates of inflation can be optimal. In our baseline calibration, the optimal rate of inflation is 2.1% and remains positive across a wide range of calibrations.

scholarly journals Ambiguity, Monetary Policy, and Trend Inflation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo M Masolo ◽  
Francesca Monti
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Inflation Expectations ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Trend Inflation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Blue Chip

ABSTRACT Allowing for ambiguity about the behavior of the policymaker in a simple New-Keynesian model gives rise to wedges between long-run inflation expectations, trend inflation, and the inflation target. The degree of ambiguity we measure in Blue Chip survey data helps explain the dynamics of long-run inflation expectations and the inflation trend measured in the US data. Ambiguity also has implications for monetary policy. We show that it is optimal for policymakers to lean against the households’ pessimistic expectations, but also document the limits to the extent the adverse effects of ambiguity can be undone.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document