Quantifying the Fed’s Objective
30 Pages Posted: 13 Feb 2020
Date Written: January 20, 2020
Abstract
The Federal Reserve’s objective, namely the dovish stance, is often blamed for the Great Inflation. A popular proxy for the former is constructed based on the inflation coefficients in estimated Taylor rules. However, for a welfare-optimizing central bank, the estimated Taylor coefficients are not sufficient to infer its underlying preference. To reassess this view, we quantify the Fed’s objective — the targeting rule, relying on a conditional estimator that is free of the classical simultaneity problem. In contrast to what is implied by estimating a Taylor rule, we find a stable targeting rule around the pre- and post-Volcker periods.
Keywords: Targeting rule, Central Bank’s Preference, SVAR, Sign Restrictions, Great Inflation, Great moderation
JEL Classification: E31, E32, E52, E58, E65
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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