Essays On Estimation Of Monetary Models Under Model Uncertainty

Simple Monetary Policy Rules Under Model Uncertainty

Using stochastic simulations and stability analysis, the paper compares how different monetary rules perform in a moderately nonlinear model with a time-varying nonaccelerating-inflation-rate-of-unemployment (NAIRU). Rules that perform well in linear models but implicitly embody backward-looking measures of real interest rates (such as conventional Taylor rules) or substantial interest rate smoothing perform very poorly in models with moderate nonlinearities, particularly when policymakers tend to make serially correlated errors in estimating the NAIRU. This challenges the practice of evaluating rules within linear models, in which the consequences of responding myopically to significant overheating are extremely unrealistic.

Essays on Estimation of Monetary Models Under Model Uncertainty

The Role of MULTIMOD in the IMF's Policy Analysis

This paper describes the basic structure, underlying philosophy, and key behavioral properties of MULTIMOD. It also focuses on several recent applications of macromodels in the IMF’s policy analysis, emphasizing that most questions put forward for analysis with models like MULTIMOD are initially posed in ways that cannot be addressed by simply pushing a computer key. Meaningful macromodel-based policy analysis requires a sensibly structured and parameterized macromodel, but it also generally requires considerable probing of the nature of the policy issues in order to reformulate policy questions in terms of well-defined exogenous shocks.