Monetary Policy Uncovered: Theory and Practice

This paper discusses the current 'new consensus' view on monetary policy and the theoretical framework on which that practical view relies, namely, the 'targets-and-instrument approach'. We argue that in the modern world of financial innovation and liability management central banks cannot choose between an interest rate-targeting policy and a money-targeting policy. A money-targeting regime is not desirable, if not unfeasible. In addition, in the context of Poole's approach to the 'instrument' problem, the implementation of a money-targeting regime would raise the expected value of the loss function of the central bank and would thus shift the balance in favour of an interest-rate targeting regime.