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Welfare costs of inflation and the circulation of U. S. currency abroad

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  • Alessandro Calza
  • Andrea Zaghini

Abstract

Empirical studies of the \"shoe-leather\" costs of inflation are typically computed using M1 as a measure of money. Yet, official data on M1 includes all currency issued, regardless of the country of residence of the holder. Using monetary data adjusted for U.S. dollars abroad, we show that the failure to control for currency held by nonresidents may lead to significantly overestimating the shoe-leather costs for the domestic economy. In particular, our estimates of shoe-leather costs are minimized for a positive but moderate value of the inflation rate, thereby justifying a deviation from the Friedman rule in favor of the Fed's current policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Calza & Andrea Zaghini, 2011. "Welfare costs of inflation and the circulation of U. S. currency abroad," Globalization Institute Working Papers 78, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddgw:78
    Note: Published as: Calza, Alessandro and Andrea Zaghini (2011), "Welfare Costs of Inflation and the Circulation of U.S. Currency Abroad," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics: Topics in Macroeconomics 2011 (1), Article 12.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. The shoe-leather cost of inflation is minimal
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2011-05-21 19:51:00

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    Cited by:

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    3. Geoffrey R. Dunbar & Casey Jones, 2018. "The (Un)Demand for Money in Canada," Staff Working Papers 18-20, Bank of Canada.
    4. John Ashworth & David Barlow & Lynne Evans, 2014. "Sectoral Money Demand Behaviour and the Welfare Cost of Inflation in the UK," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 82(6), pages 732-750, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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