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How Useful are Simple Rules for Monetary Policy? The Swedish Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Berg, Claes

    (Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Jansson, Per

    (Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Vredin, Anders

    (Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

Monetary policy is often analysed in terms of simple rules. Such rules may be useful for many purposes, even when they do not describe the actual monetary policy strategy exactly. This paper compares monetary policy in Sweden during the inflation-targeting regime 19932002 with the policies implied by certain simple instrument rules. Calibrated rules that are commonly used in theoretical analyses do not provide good approximations of Sveriges Riksbank’s (the central bank of Sweden) policy, whereas rules with reaction coefficients that have been estimated using the bank’s own (realtime forecasts do capture policy behaviour quite well. There are different forecastbased rules including different arguments and forecast horizons that describe monetary policy about equally well. A close reading of various policy documents, e.g., Inflation Reports, minutes from the bank’s Executive Board meetings, and speeches, shows that large deviations from the simple rules are associated with factors that are usually neglected in theoretical models of monetary policy. Examples of such factors are concerns for credibility and uncertainties about various economic relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Berg, Claes & Jansson, Per & Vredin, Anders, 2004. "How Useful are Simple Rules for Monetary Policy? The Swedish Experience," Working Paper Series 169, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0169
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    File URL: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/WorkingPapers/WP_169.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Charles Goodhart, 2009. "The Interest Rate Conditioning Assumption," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 5(2), pages 85-108, June.
    2. Kenneth N Kuttner, 2004. "A Snapshot of Inflation Targeting in its Adolescence," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Christopher Kent & Simon Guttmann (ed.),The Future of Inflation Targeting, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Baxa, Jaromír & Horváth, Roman & Vašíček, Bořek, 2014. "How Does Monetary Policy Change? Evidence On Inflation-Targeting Countries," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 593-630, April.
    4. Lindé, Jesper, 2003. "Monetary Policy Shocks and Business Cycle Fluctuations in a Small Open Economy: Sweden 1986-2002," Working Paper Series 153, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    5. Kerry B. Hudson & Joaquin L. Vespignani, 2014. "Understanding the Deviations of the Taylor Rule: A New Methodology with an Application to Australia," CAMA Working Papers 2014-78, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    6. Alex Isakov & Petr Grishin & Oleg Gorlinsky, 2018. "Fear of Forward Guidance," Russian Journal of Money and Finance, Bank of Russia, vol. 77(4), pages 84-106, December.
    7. Hudson, Kerry & Vespignani, Joaquin L., 2015. "Understanding the Taylor Rule in Australia," MPRA Paper 104679, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Gunji, Hiroshi & Miura, Kazuki & Yuan, Yuan, 2009. "Bank competition and monetary policy," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 105-115, January.
    9. repec:pri:cepsud:127svensson is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Lars E. O. Svensson, 2007. "Optimal inflation Targeting: Further Developments of Inflation Targeting," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Frederic S. Miskin & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Monetary Policy under Inflation Targeting, edition 1, volume 11, chapter 6, pages 187-225, Central Bank of Chile.
    11. Marcela Meirelles Aurelio, 2005. "Do we really know how inflation targeters set interest rates?," Research Working Paper RWP 05-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    12. Lars E.O. Svensson, 2006. "The Instrument-Rate Projection under Inflation Targeting: The Norwegian Example," Working Papers 75, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    13. Kenneth N. Kuttner, 2004. "The role of policy rules in inflation targeting," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 86(Jul), pages 89-112.
    14. Jesper Lindé & Marianne Nessén & Ulf Söderström, 2009. "Monetary policy in an estimated open-economy model with imperfect pass-through," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 301-333.
    15. Creel, Jérôme & Hubert, Paul, 2012. "Constrained discretion in Sweden," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 33-44.
    16. Lars E.O. Svensson, 2006. "The Instrument-Rate Projection under Inflation Targeting: The Norwegian Example," Working Papers 75, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    17. Goodhart, Charles, 2015. "The interest rate conditioning assumption," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24666, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Goodhart Charles A.E., 2005. "The Monetary Policy Committee's Reaction Function: An Exercise in Estimation," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-42, August.
    19. Andersson, Michael K. & Karlsson, Gustav & Svensson, Josef, 2007. "The Riksbank’s Forecasting Performance," Working Paper Series 218, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monetary policy; inflation target; Taylor rule; forecast-based policy rules; transparency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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