scholarly journals The Optimal Inflation Rate in New Keynesian Models: Should Central Banks Raise Their Inflation Targets in Light of the Zero Lower Bound?

2012 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1371-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Coibion ◽  
Y. Gorodnichenko ◽  
J. Wieland
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. e1028-e1053
Author(s):  
Piotr Ciżkowicz ◽  
Andrzej Rzońca ◽  
Andrzej Torój

Abstract Using a standard New Keynesian model, we show that moderate side effects of zero lower bound (ZLB) policy suffice for positive lower bound (PLB) policy to pay off in terms of welfare, especially when central banks fail to commit. For given side effects of the ZLB, as the shock that makes the ZLB bind becomes larger and more persistent, the dominance of PLB policy over ZLB policy becomes more likely. The findings hold for flexible and rigid economies with both fast and slow potential output growth and low and high inflation targets.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1371-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adiya Belgibayeva ◽  
Michal Horvath

The paper revisits the literature on real rigidities in New Keynesian models in the context of an economy at the zero lower bound. It identifies strategic interaction among price- and wage-setting agents in the economy as an important determinant of both optimal policy and economic dynamics in deep recessions. In particular, labor market segmentation is shown to have a significant influence on the length of the forward commitment to keep interest rates at zero, the magnitude of the fiscal policy responses as well as inflation volatility in the economy under optimal policy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Ascari ◽  
Argia M. Sbordone

Most macroeconomic models for monetary policy analysis are approximated around a zero inflation steady state, but most central banks target an inflation rate of about 2 percent. Many economists have recently proposed even higher inflation targets to reduce the incidence of the zero lower bound constraint on monetary policy. In this survey, we show that the conduct of monetary policy should be analyzed by appropriately accounting for the positive trend inflation targeted by policymakers. We first review empirical research on the evolution and dynamics of U.S. trend inflation and some proposed new measures to assess the volatility and persistence of trend-based inflation gaps. We then construct a Generalized New Keynesian model that accounts for a positive trend inflation. In this model, an increase in trend inflation is associated with a more volatile and unstable economy and tends to destabilize inflation expectations. This analysis offers a note of caution regarding recent proposals to address the existing zero lower bound problem by raising the long-run inflation target. (JEL E12, E31, E32, E52, E58)


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Michaillat ◽  
Emmanuel Saez

At the zero lower bound, the New Keynesian model predicts that output and inflation collapse to implausibly low levels, and that government spending and forward guidance have implausibly large effects. To resolve these anomalies, we introduce wealth into the utility function; the justification is that wealth is a marker of social status, and people value status. Since people partly save to accrue social status, the Euler equation is modified. As a result, when the marginal utility of wealth is sufficiently large, the dynamical system representing the zero-lower-bound equilibrium transforms from a saddle to a source—which resolves all the anomalies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2138-2157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto M. Billi

I compare nominal gross domestic product (GDP) level targeting with strict price level targeting in a small New Keynesian model, with the central bank operating under optimal discretion and facing a zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. I show that, if the economy is only buffeted by purely temporary shocks to inflation, nominal GDP level targeting may be preferable because it requires the burden of the shocks to be shared by prices and output. However, in the presence of persistent supply and demand shocks, strict price level targeting may be superior because it induces greater policy inertia and improves the tradeoffs faced by the central bank. During lower bound episodes, somewhat paradoxically, nominal GDP level targeting leads to larger falls in nominal GDP.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minseong Kim

New Keynesian models assume that inflation rate and output level are endogenous variables. However, given that firms are price setters and suppliers in the models, it is more reasonable to assume that, absent equilibrium coordination (or tatonnement) issues usually abstracted away, both variables actually are state variables determined by expectations in the past. This secures global equilibrium determinacy and a previously unavailable account of inflation rate for New Keynesian models. Furthermore, the principle of effective demand is implemented via the expectation channel.


Economica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (342) ◽  
pp. 262-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul De Grauwe ◽  
Yuemei Ji

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1758-1784
Author(s):  
Sang Seok Lee

Why is a zero lower bound episode long-lasting and disruptive? This paper proposes the interruption of information flow from the central bank’s interest rate decision to the private sector as a channel by which the destabilizing effect of the zero lower bound constraint on the nominal interest rate is amplified. This mechanism is incorporated into the new Keynesian model by modifying its information structure. This paper shows that the information loss at the zero lower bound can increase (a) the duration of the zero lower bound episodes and (b) the size of deflation and output gap loss. The result in this paper demonstrates that enhanced information sharing by the central bank about the state of the economy can be effective at alleviating the cost of the zero lower bound.


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