The conduct of monetary policy in terms of interest rate or other rules has been extensively studied in recent research. This literature gives a central role to forecasts of future inflation and output, and the question of whether monetary policy should be forward- ooking has been subject to discussion and debate. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank include private sector forecasts and internal macroeconomic projections in their periodic reports (Bank of England, 2007, European Central Bank, 2007). Empirical evidence on Germany, Japan, and the United States since 1979 similarly suggests that central banks are forward-looking in practice (Clarida, Galí, and Gertler, 1998).