Optimal Monetary Policy

FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 01-5

58 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2001

See all articles by Aubhik Khan

Aubhik Khan

Ohio State University (OSU)

Robert G. King

Boston University - Department of Economics; Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond - Research Department; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Alexander L. Wolman

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 2000

Abstract

Optimal monetary policy maximizes welfare, given frictions in the economic environment. Constructing a model with two sets of frictions - the Keynesian friction of costly price adjustment by imperfectly competitive firms and the Monetarist friction of costly exchange of wealth for goods - the authors find optimal monetary policy is governed by two familiar principles.

First, the average level of the nominal interest rate should be sufficiently low, as suggested by Milton Friedman, that there should be deflation on average. Yet, the Keynesian frictions imply that the optimal nominal interest rate is positive.

Second, as various shocks occur to the real and monetary sectors, the price level should be largely stabilized, as suggested by Irving Fisher, albeit around a deflationary trend path. (In modern language, there is only small "base drift" for the price level path.) Since expected inflation is roughly constant through time, the nominal interest rate must therefore vary with the Fisherian determinants of the real interest rate - as there is expected growth or contraction of real economic activity.

JEL Classification: E52

Suggested Citation

Khan, Aubhik and King, Robert G. and Wolman, Alexander L., Optimal Monetary Policy (October 2000). FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 01-5, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=282295 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.282295

Aubhik Khan (Contact Author)

Ohio State University (OSU) ( email )

2120 Fyffe Road
Columbus, OH OH 43210
United States

Robert G. King

Boston University - Department of Economics ( email )

270 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
United States
617-353-5941 (Phone)

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond - Research Department

P.O. Box 27622
Richmond, VA 23261
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Alexander L. Wolman

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond ( email )

P.O. Box 27622
Richmond, VA 23261
United States