A real interest rate rule for monetary policy?

Abstract

This paper examines four alternative types of guidelines for monetary policy: (1) stabilizing the real policy rate of interest at a "low" level, (2) pegging the nominal policy rate, (3) employing a standard monetary policy reaction function to target inflation, and (4) invoking the notion of a "fair" rate of interest. The case defended here is that the first of these alternatives, an attempt to stabilize the real policy rate at some "low" level, is the best option for monetary policy. It is also the most consistent with the traditional Keynesian advocacy of cheap money—"we intend to retain control of our domestic rate of interest, and keep it as low as suits our own purposes."

Keywords:

• endogenous money
• monetary policy
• new consensus
• Post Keynesian theory