News Release

Monetary aggregates play little role in the conduct of monetary policy

Examines the leading arguments for assigning an important role to tracking the growth of monetary aggregates

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Wiley

New York, N.Y. – December 3, 2008 – In conventional macroeconomic thinking, the money supply is considered the main determinant of long-run inflation. A variety of monetary aggregates have been proposed to measure the money supply. Yet, nowadays, monetary aggregates play little role in monetary policy deliberations at most central banks. A new study in the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking examines the leading arguments for assigning an important role to tracking the growth of monetary aggregates when making decisions about monetary policy. The analysis finds that none of the arguments provides a compelling reason to assign a prominent role to monetary aggregates.

Michael Woodford of Columbia University reviews several of the most important arguments that have been made for paying attention to money, considering both the omissions of an analysis without money and the advantages of the information revealed by monetary trends.

While they do have their uses, Woodford contends that monetary aggregates should not be used as policy targets or assigned a prominent role in monetary policy strategy.

The economy's current condition and projected evolution under alternative policy paths may depend on a large number of unobserved variables. Monetary aggregates, along with other indicators, can be used to provide information about these unobserved variables, though there is little theoretical or empirical ground to think that these measures are especially revealing about any of the unobserved variables that are most crucial for accurate projections. Monetary aggregates thus may help to determine the appropriate policy, but only along many other variables and not in a way that would make them targets in the conduct of policy.

"When one examines the reasons that have been primarily responsible for the appeal of the idea of money growth as a simple diagnostic for monetary policy, one finds that they will not support the weight that they are asked to bear," Woodford notes.

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This study is published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net.

Michael Woodford is affiliated with Columbia University and can be reached for questions at Mw2230@columbia.edu.

Journal of Money, Credit and Banking (JMCB) is a leading professional journal read and referred to by scholars, researchers, and policymakers in the areas of money and banking, credit markets, regulation of financial institutions, international payments, portfolio management, and monetary and fiscal policy.

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit www.wiley-blackwell.com or http://interscience.wiley.com.


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