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Rethinking Potential Output: Embedding Information About the Financial Cycle
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that incorporating information about the financial cycle is important to improve measures of potential output and output gaps, and they show that including information about financial cycle can yield more reliable estimates of cyclically adjusted budget balances and to serve as complementary guides for monetary policy.
Abstract: This paper argues that incorporating information about the financial cycle is important to improve measures of potential output and output gaps. Conceptually, identifying potential output with non-inflationary output is too restrictive. Potential output is seen as sustainable; yet experience indicates that output may be on an unsustainable path even if inflation is low and stable whenever financial imbalances are building up. More generally, as long as potential output is identified with the non-cyclical component of output fluctuations and financial factors play a key role in explaining the cyclical part, ignoring these factors leaves out valuable information. Within a simple and transparent framework, we show that including information about the financial cycle can yield measures of potential output and output gaps that are not only estimated more precisely, but also much more robust in real time. In the context of policy applications, such "finance-neutral" output gaps are shown to yield more reliable estimates of cyclically adjusted budget balances and to serve as complementary guides for monetary policy.
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TL;DR: The authors highlighted the stylised empirical features of the financial cycle, conjectures as to what it may take to model it satisfactorily, and considered its policy implications in the discussion of policy.
Abstract: It is high time we rediscovered the role of the financial cycle in macroeconomics In the environment that has prevailed for at least three decades now, it is not possible to understand business fluctuations and the corresponding analytical and policy challenges without understanding the financial cycle This calls for a rethink of modelling strategies and for significant adjustments to macroeconomic policies This essay highlights the stylised empirical features of the financial cycle, conjectures as to what it may take to model it satisfactorily, and considers its policy implications In the discussion of policy, the essay pays special attention to the bust phase, which is less well explored and raises much more controversial issues
859 citations
TL;DR: The authors highlights the stylised empirical features of the financial cycle, conjectures as to what it may take to model it satisfactorily, and considers its policy implications, and pays special attention to the bust phase.
Abstract: It is high time we rediscovered the role of the financial cycle in macroeconomics. In the environment that has prevailed for at least three decades now, it is not possible to understand business fluctuations and the corresponding analytical and policy challenges without understanding the financial cycle. This calls for a rethink of modelling strategies and for significant adjustments to macroeconomic policies. This essay highlights the stylised empirical features of the financial cycle, conjectures as to what it may take to model it satisfactorily, and considers its policy implications. In the discussion of policy, the essay pays special attention to the bust phase, which is less well explored and raises much more controversial issues.
430 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it has been suggested that both the form of the utility function and the model of the inflationary process that are employed to derive this conclusion are questionable, and that a more symmetrical view of the welfare loss caused by changing prices destroys the conclusion that adaptive expectations must lead to a reduction in the optimum utilization ratio.
Abstract: It has been customary to specify the objectives of macro-economic policy in terms of targets with such labels as "non-inflationary full employment" (despite the doubts raised by the Phillips Curve as to whether such a thing exists), "rapid growth" (which is hardly instructive) and "balance-of-payments equilibrium" (whatever that may mean). This procedure is inadequate where the targets are lacking in immediate normative significance. The balance of payments, for example, is a means to an end and in no sense an end in itself; and it is the task of economists to analyse means and not, as the conventional procedure does, to accept them as data. Professor Phelps' recent article2 performs the valuable function of demonstrating that, in the field of macroeconomic policy as much as in the context of optimal capital accumulation, it is fruitful to derive immediate policy goals by maximizing a welfare function specified in terms of the ultimate ends of economic activity. The purpose of the present Note is to clarify the generality of Phelps' conclusion that proper consideration of inter-temporal interdependence results in a reduction of the utilization ratio that can be considered optimal. It will be suggested that both the form of the utility function and the model of the inflationary process that are employed to derive this conclusion are questionable. More traditional specifications lead to the traditional conclusion that was criticized by Phelps, even when the problem is considered in an inter-temporal context. If the essential elements of Phelps' model are granted, however, it is possible to include one significant generalization without difficulty. Even here, however, the "deflationary moral" of Phelps' model is critically dependent upon the particular form of his utility function; a more symmetrical view of the welfare loss caused by changing prices destroys the conclusion that adaptive expectations must lead to a reduction in the optimum utilization ratio. Phelps' model may be summarized as follows. It is assumed that the rate of inflation (f/p) can be broken down into two additive components, the part that is expected (z = x of Phelps' article) and the part that is unexpected (v). Unexpected inflation is determined by the
186 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the link between credit booms, productivity growth, labour reallocations and financial crises in a sample of over twenty advanced economies and over forty years.
Abstract: We investigate the link between credit booms, productivity growth, labour reallocations and financial crises in a sample of over twenty advanced economies and over forty years. We produce two key findings. First, credit booms tend to undermine productivity growth by inducing labour reallocations towards lower productivity growth sectors. A temporarily bloated construction sector stands out as an example. Second, the impact of reallocations that occur during a boom, and during economic expansions more generally, is much larger if a crisis follows. In other words, when economic conditions become more hostile, misallocations beget misallocations. These findings have broader implications: they shed light on the recent secular stagnation debate; they provide an alternative interpretation of hysteresis effects; they highlight the need to incorporate credit developments in the measurement of potential output; and they provide a new perspective on the medium- to long-run impact of monetary policy as well as its ability to fight post-crisis recessions.
139 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that a significant portion of the recent damage to the supply side of the economy plausibly was endogenous to the weakness in aggregate demand, and they present optimal-control simulations showing how monetary policy might respond to such endogeneity in the absence of other considerations.
Abstract: The recent financial crisis and ensuing recession appear to have put the productive capacity of the economy on a lower and shallower trajectory than the one that seemed to be in place prior to 2007. Using a version of an unobserved components model introduced by Fleischman and Roberts, we estimate that potential GDP in late 2014 was about 7 percent below the trajectory it appeared to be on prior to 2007. We argue that a significant portion of the recent damage to the supply side of the economy plausibly was endogenous to the weakness in aggregate demand. Endogeneity of supply with respect to demand provides a strong motivation for a vigorous policy response to a weakening in aggregate demand, and we present optimal-control simulations showing how monetary policy might respond to such endogeneity in the absence of other considerations. We then discuss how other considerations—such as increased risks of financial instability or inflation instability—could cause policymakers to exercise restraint in their response to cyclical weakness.
133 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how recent econometric policy evaluation research on monetary policy rules can be applied in a practical policymaking environment, and the discussion centers around a hypothetical but representative policy rule much like that advocated in recent research.
8,414 citations
"Rethinking Potential Output: Embedd..." refers background or methods in this paper
...For illustrative purposes, we adopt the simple standard version of the Taylor (1993) rule = ∗ + ∗ + 1....
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...Graph 9 Policy rates and Taylor (1993) rules(1) In per cent...
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TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that discretionary policy does not result in the social objective function being maximized, and that there is no way control theory can be made applicable to economic planning when expectations are rational.
Abstract: Even if there is an agreed-upon, fixed social objective function and policymakers know the timing and magnitude of the effects of their actions, discretionary policy, namely, the selection of that decision which is best, given the current situation and a correct evaluation of the end-of-period position, does not result in the social objective function being maximized. The reason for this apparent paradox is that economic planning is not a game against nature but, rather, a game against rational economic agents. We conclude that there is no way control theory can be made applicable to economic planning when expectations are rational.
7,652 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a general equilibrium model is developed and fitted to U.S. quarterly data for the post-war period, with the assumption that more than one time period is required for the construction of new productive capital and the non-time-separable utility function that admits greater intertemporal substitution of leisure.
Abstract: The equilibrium growth model is modified and used to explain the cyclical variances of a set of economic time series, the covariances between real output and the other series, and the autocovariance of output. The model is fitted to quarterly data for the post-war U.S. economy. Crucial features of the model are the assumption that more than one time period is required for the construction of new productive capital, and the non-time-separable utility function that admits greater intertemporal substitution of leisure. The fit is surprisingly good in light of the model's simplicity and the small number of free parameters. THAT WINE IS NOT MADE in a day has long been recognized by economists (e.g., Bdhm-Bawerk [6]). But, neither are ships nor factories built in a day. A thesis of this essay is that the assumption of multiple-period construction is crucial for explaining aggregate fluctuations. A general equilibrium model is developed and fitted to U.S. quarterly data for the post-war period. The co-movements of the fluctuations for the fitted model are quantitatively consistent with the corresponding co-movements for U.S. data. In addition, the serial correlations of cyclical output for the model match well with those observed. Our approach integrates growth and business cycle theory. Like standard growth theory, a representative infinitely-lived household is assumed. As fluctuations in employment are central to the business cycle, the stand-in consumer values not only consumption but also leisure. One very important modification to the standard growth model is that multiple periods are required to build new capital goods and only finished capital goods are part of the productive capital stock. Each stage of production requires a period and utilizes resources. Halffinished ships and factories are not part of the productive capital stock. Section 2 contains a short critique of the commonly used investment technologies, and presents evidence that single-period production, even with adjustment costs, is inadequate. The preference-technology-information structure of the model is presented in Section 3. A crucial feature of preferences is the non-time-separable utility function that admits greater intertemporal substitution of leisure. The exogenous stochastic components in the model are shocks to technology and imperfect indicators of productivity. The two technology shocks differ in their persistence.
5,728 citations
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: There is wide agreement about the major goals of economic policy: high employment, stable prices, and rapid growth as discussed by the authors.There is less agreement that these goals are mutually compatible or, among those who regard them as incompatible, about the terms at which they can and should be substituted for one another.
Abstract: There is wide agreement about the major goals of economic policy: high employment, stable prices, and rapid growth. There is less agreement that these goals are mutually compatible or, among those who regard them as incompatible, about the terms at which they can and should be substituted for one another. There is least agreement about the role that various instruments of policy can and should play in achieving the several goals.
5,289 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: Woodford as discussed by the authors proposes a rule-based approach to monetary policy suitable for a world of instant communications and ever more efficient financial markets, arguing that effective monetary policy requires that central banks construct a conscious and articulate account of what they are doing.
Abstract: With the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, any pretense of a connection of the world's currencies to any real commodity has been abandoned. Yet since the 1980s, most central banks have abandoned money-growth targets as practical guidelines for monetary policy as well. How then can pure "fiat" currencies be managed so as to create confidence in the stability of national units of account? Interest and Prices seeks to provide theoretical foundations for a rule-based approach to monetary policy suitable for a world of instant communications and ever more efficient financial markets. In such a world, effective monetary policy requires that central banks construct a conscious and articulate account of what they are doing. Michael Woodford reexamines the foundations of monetary economics, and shows how interest-rate policy can be used to achieve an inflation target in the absence of either commodity backing or control of a monetary aggregate. The book further shows how the tools of modern macroeconomic theory can be used to design an optimal inflation-targeting regime--one that balances stabilization goals with the pursuit of price stability in a way that is grounded in an explicit welfare analysis, and that takes account of the "New Classical" critique of traditional policy evaluation exercises. It thus argues that rule-based policymaking need not mean adherence to a rigid framework unrelated to stabilization objectives for the sake of credibility, while at the same time showing the advantages of rule-based over purely discretionary policymaking.
4,938 citations