The Optimal Degree of Commitment to an Intermediate Monetary Target

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 1985
Volume: 100
Issue: 4
Pages: 1169-1189

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Society can sometimes make itself better off by appointing a central banker who does not share the social objective function, but instead places "too large" a weight on inflation-rate stabilization relative to employment stabilization. Although having such an agent head the central bank reduces the time-consistent rate of inflation, it suboptimally raises the variance of employment when supply shocks are large. Using an envelope theorem, we show that the ideal agent places a large, but finite, weight on inflation. The analysis also provides a new framework for choosing among alternative intermediate monetary targets.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:100:y:1985:i:4:p:1169-1189.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29