Avoiding Liquidity Traps

32 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2000

See all articles by Jess Benhabib

Jess Benhabib

New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Martín Uribe

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 1999

Abstract

Once the zero bound on nominal interest rates is taken into account, Taylor-type interest-rate feedback rules give rise to unintended self-fulfilling decelerating inflation paths and aggregate fluctuations driven by arbitrary revisions in expectations. These undesirable equilibria exhibit the essential features of liquidity traps, as monetary policy is ineffective in bringing about the government's goals regarding the stability of output and prices. This paper proposes several fiscal and monetary policies that preserve the appealing features of Taylor rules, such as local uniqueness of equilibrium near the inflation target, and at the same time rule out the deflationary expectations that can lead an economy into a liquidity trap.

JEL Classification: E52, E31, E63

Suggested Citation

Benhabib, Jess and Schmitt-Grohe, Stephanie and Uribe, Martin, Avoiding Liquidity Traps (December 1999). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=202248 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.202248

Jess Benhabib

New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics ( email )

269 Mercer Street
7th Floor
New York, NY 10003
United States
212-998-8971 (Phone)
212-995-4186 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Stephanie Schmitt-Grohe (Contact Author)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Martin Uribe

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - Department of Economics ( email )

420 W. 118th Street
1022 International Affairs Building, MC 3308
New York, NY 10027
United States
212-851-4008 (Phone)
212-854-8059 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States