Category Monetary policy
A simple New Keynesian brain-teaser
Update: I sketch my own answer in the comments below. This is a question for all students of New Keynesian macroeconomics. I mean "students" in the sense of "those who study", so that includes the profs too. It is a very basic question. There is no fancy math to fool you. If you cannot answer […]
Chris House is a Market Monetarist!
OK, maybe I exaggerate a little. But he's at least halfway there. One of the key points that Market Monetarists (Scott Sumner especially) keep making (and that keeps getting ignored) is that low (nominal and real) interest rates are not a sign that monetary policy is loose, but are a consequence of monetary policy being […]
Relative price shocks, price-level shocks, and who moves first
Suppose a real shock hits the economy. It affects relative prices. The prices of the green firms must rise relative to the prices of the red firms. The prices of the red firms must fall relative to the prices of the green firms. Same thing. But which happens? Do the green prices rise, or do […]
Scotland, Quebec, and currency union
I don't have anything to add to this, except to express my relief that the Permanent Secretary to H M Treasury (UK) said what needed to be said, especially given the dreadful experience of the Eurozone currency union (which is not over yet in my opinion), and that Canadians should read it. (H/T David Smith).
Collateral and the money supply
I sketch a simple model where a shortage of collateral reduces the money supply, and makes the Cash-In-Advance constraint binding in an otherwise New Keynesian model. This post is a followup on my previous post on "negative money".
Tiff Macklem, retail competition, flexible IT vs NGDPLT
Tiff Macklem is senior deputy governor at the Bank of Canada. On Friday, Tiff gave a speech on "Flexible Inflation Targeting and 'Good' and 'Bad' Disinflation". The Bank of Canada is not like the Fed; Tiff's speech reflects the Bank of Canada view. The picture below reflects what I think Tiff might be saying:
Negative money
There are two parallel worlds. Both worlds use bits of coloured paper as money, because barter is very difficult. The green world uses green paper as money, and the red world uses red paper as money. The green paper money has a positive value. The red paper money has a negative value.
Two interest rates, and one simple question.
Most simple macro models have just one (nominal) interest rate. I want to complicate it, just a little, by talking about two (nominal) interest rates: 1. There is the rate of interest you get paid if you hold money. Call it Rm. 2. There is the rate of interest you get paid if you lend […]
Separating real from nominal shocks
Nobody wants a monetary policy that creates nominal shocks. "Don't do random stuff with monetary policy for no reason at all!" is clearly sensible and uncontroversial advice. But finding a monetary policy that separates real shocks from nominal shocks, so that real shocks don't also create nominal shocks, is harder. But that is exactly the […]
“Is the falling exchange rate good news or bad news?”
I was on CBC radio yesterday morning for about 5 minutes, talking about the exchange rate. From this experience, and from previous similar experiences, this is what reporters want to ask: "Who gains, and who loses, from the fall in the exchange rate? For Canada as a whole, is the fall in the exchange rate […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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