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 ...

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 ...