In recent years, the design of monetary policy has focused on gaps—the output gap, the interest rate gap, and the unemployment rate gap have all played a role in policy discussions. Standard models used for policy analysis are either specified in terms of such gaps or imply important roles for these ...

Three parallel and certainly not independent changes have occurred in central bank practices over the past fifteen years. The first is the spread of central bank independence, which is tied to the notion that even when the government plays a role in setting the goals of monetary policy, central banks ...

Central bank economists and academic economists conducting research on the design of monetary policy have made significant advances in recent years. This work has led to a clearer understanding of the desirable properties of interest rate rules, the role of announcements and communication, and the ...