All central banks manage the supply of money and credit in their countries, increasing and decreasing them as needed to provide what economies need to keep growing. The way central banks typically handle that job involves short-term interest rates. But when inflation is low, central banks can’t use their usual methods to get money and credit into an economy that needs it. Several essays in this volume describe the work of economists who have investigated problems that central banks might have when inflation gets low. Other essays investigate related questions such as whether an economy suffers when it moves from high inflation to low inflation, what the costs of inflation are to economic welfare, and whether a little bit of inflation can actually be good for economic growth.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“This volume brings together an excellent set of papers on the costs of inflation. It is particularly useful to see in one place the different perspectives afforded by leading alternative approaches to the same problem. Anyone with an interest in the social costs of inflation will find this volume very useful.” – Martin Eichenbaum, Northwestern University
“This book looks at monetary and fiscal conditions for low inflation in terms of the most advanced theories now used within central banks. Unprecedented responses by governments and central banks to the large shocks that brought forth the 2007–2008 financial crisis are stress-testing these theories. That the authors of the essays in this book are among the leading creators and critics of these theories makes this an especially valuable and timely collection.” – Thomas Sargent, New York University
“This is a valuable collection that represents the kinds of models currently in use to study monetary policy. It should be studied by professionals who play a role in formulating monetary policy and by those who aspire to do research on monetary policy.” – Neil Wallace, Pennsylvania State University
“An excellent collection of papers. The contributors use a wide range of theoretical models to address the advantages of having a low-inflation economy and the challenges of conducting policy in that environment. I highly recommend it for monetary economists and central bankers. You won’t be disappointed.” – Christopher Waller, University of Notre Dame
Book Description
The essays in this volume investigate the challenges of transitioning to lower levels of inflation and conducting monetary policy in low-inflation economies.
About the Author
David E. Altig, senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, was vice president and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland when this book began to be compiled. He oversees the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s blog called ‘Macroblog’. His published research focuses on tax policy, business cycle issues, and monetary policy analysis. Dr Altig has taught at a number of universities – the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, and Indiana University – and lectured in the Chinese Executive MBA program sponsored by the University of Minnesota and Lignan College of Sun Yat-Sen University. Dr Altig earned his doctorate in economics from Brown University.
Ed Nosal, vice president and senior financial economist in the financial markets group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, was senior research advisor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland when this book began to be compiled. His research focuses on money and banking. Dr Nosal has taught at the University of Chicago, University of Waterloo, University of British Columbia, University of New South Wales, and the National University of Singapore. Dr Nosal earned his doctorate in economics from Queen’s University in Canada.
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