Deliberating American Monetary Policy

Deliberating American Monetary Policy

Author: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 0262314738

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A systematic analysis of Federal Reserve and congressional deliberations on monetary policy, drawing on textual analysis software and in-depth interviews with participants. American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences. Analyzing why and under what conditions deliberation matters for monetary policy, the author identifies several strategies of persuasion used by FOMC members, including Paul Volcker's emphasis on policy credibility and efforts to influence economic expectations. Members of Congress, however, constrained by political considerations, show a relative passivity on the details of monetary policy.


Book Synopsis Deliberating American Monetary Policy by : Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Download or read book Deliberating American Monetary Policy written by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A systematic analysis of Federal Reserve and congressional deliberations on monetary policy, drawing on textual analysis software and in-depth interviews with participants. American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences. Analyzing why and under what conditions deliberation matters for monetary policy, the author identifies several strategies of persuasion used by FOMC members, including Paul Volcker's emphasis on policy credibility and efforts to influence economic expectations. Members of Congress, however, constrained by political considerations, show a relative passivity on the details of monetary policy.

The Pressures on American Monetary Policy

The Pressures on American Monetary Policy

Author: Thomas Havrilesky

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-09

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1475722281

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The basic motivation for this book is my lifelong interest in the relationship between political processes and macroeconomic outcomes, especially in the area of monetary policy. Monetary policy is an area where political considerations regularly impact upon economic results. When my fascination with this subject began thirty years ago, none of the scholarly literature of that period engaged in modeling monetary policy, even as a constrained maximization problem, not to mention systematically linking it to politically-generated goals. My dissertation at the University of Illinois in 1966 and my first published article (in the Journal of Political Economy in 1967) addressed the modeling and estimation of the concerns that propel monetary policy. In the political and economic turbulence of the period from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, it became clear that the directions taken by monetary policy were changing with some frequency. Much of my published research during that period dealt with formal control theoretic models of monetary policy but some of it attempted to measure these changes and showed that monetary policy reactions to the state of the economy were not stable over time. Even during this early period I suggested reforms which might reduce the resulting instability in the economy. For example, my 1972 article in the Journal of Political Economy suggested systematic penalties Federal Reserve officials who failed to meet the goal of monetary stability by tying their budgets or salaries inversely to the rate of inflation.


Book Synopsis The Pressures on American Monetary Policy by : Thomas Havrilesky

Download or read book The Pressures on American Monetary Policy written by Thomas Havrilesky and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The basic motivation for this book is my lifelong interest in the relationship between political processes and macroeconomic outcomes, especially in the area of monetary policy. Monetary policy is an area where political considerations regularly impact upon economic results. When my fascination with this subject began thirty years ago, none of the scholarly literature of that period engaged in modeling monetary policy, even as a constrained maximization problem, not to mention systematically linking it to politically-generated goals. My dissertation at the University of Illinois in 1966 and my first published article (in the Journal of Political Economy in 1967) addressed the modeling and estimation of the concerns that propel monetary policy. In the political and economic turbulence of the period from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, it became clear that the directions taken by monetary policy were changing with some frequency. Much of my published research during that period dealt with formal control theoretic models of monetary policy but some of it attempted to measure these changes and showed that monetary policy reactions to the state of the economy were not stable over time. Even during this early period I suggested reforms which might reduce the resulting instability in the economy. For example, my 1972 article in the Journal of Political Economy suggested systematic penalties Federal Reserve officials who failed to meet the goal of monetary stability by tying their budgets or salaries inversely to the rate of inflation.

Deliberating American Monetary Policy

Deliberating American Monetary Policy

Author: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2013-11

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 0262019574

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American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences --


Book Synopsis Deliberating American Monetary Policy by : Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Download or read book Deliberating American Monetary Policy written by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences --

American Monetary Policy, 1928-1941

American Monetary Policy, 1928-1941

Author: Lester Vernon Chandler

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis American Monetary Policy, 1928-1941 by : Lester Vernon Chandler

Download or read book American Monetary Policy, 1928-1941 written by Lester Vernon Chandler and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Deliberation and Oversight in Monetary Policy, 1976-2008

Deliberation and Oversight in Monetary Policy, 1976-2008

Author: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The focus of this paper is on the relationship of the Federal Reserve vis-à-vis Congress, starting in the mid-1970s -- the period of sustained high inflation -- and ending in early 2008, thereby capturing the early days of the financial crisis. As part of a larger book project, this paper provides a bird's eye view of the discourse in the House and Senate banking committees as they conducted oversight hearings on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008. We use automated textual analysis software to gauge (statistically and graphically) deliberation within these committee hearings, using the verbatim transcripts. We analyze in full (i.e., every word, every phrase) 61 hearings over the 33 year period in order to measure empirically the deliberative discourse by politicians and central bankers on US monetary policy over three decades. We examine (1) the themes that do (and do not) interest legislators when they question the Fed chairman; (2) how these themes have evolved over three decades; and (3) differences in focus between both the Fed chairman and legislators, and between Democrats and Republicans.


Book Synopsis Deliberation and Oversight in Monetary Policy, 1976-2008 by : Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Download or read book Deliberation and Oversight in Monetary Policy, 1976-2008 written by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus of this paper is on the relationship of the Federal Reserve vis-à-vis Congress, starting in the mid-1970s -- the period of sustained high inflation -- and ending in early 2008, thereby capturing the early days of the financial crisis. As part of a larger book project, this paper provides a bird's eye view of the discourse in the House and Senate banking committees as they conducted oversight hearings on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008. We use automated textual analysis software to gauge (statistically and graphically) deliberation within these committee hearings, using the verbatim transcripts. We analyze in full (i.e., every word, every phrase) 61 hearings over the 33 year period in order to measure empirically the deliberative discourse by politicians and central bankers on US monetary policy over three decades. We examine (1) the themes that do (and do not) interest legislators when they question the Fed chairman; (2) how these themes have evolved over three decades; and (3) differences in focus between both the Fed chairman and legislators, and between Democrats and Republicans.

Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees

Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees

Author: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0192847872

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In recent decades, we have seen an explosion in expectations for greater accountability of public policymaking. But, as accountability has increased, trust in governments and politicians has fallen. By focusing on the heart of public accountability--the reason-giving by policymakers for their policy decisions (i.e. deliberative accountability)--this work offers an empirical route for understanding why more accountability may not always deliver more public trust. The focus is on the British Parliament, where both the Treasury Select Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee hold hearings on monetary policy, financial stability, and fiscal policy. The intent in these hearings is to challenge policymakers to explain their decisions, and thus the dialogue is expected to be deliberative. But how do we judge the quality of this deliberative accountability? Three metrics are explored and measured: respect, non-partisanship, and reciprocity. The approach is multi-method, including (1) quantitative text analysis to gauge the verbatim transcripts in committee hearings; (2) qualitative coding combined with an experimental design to gauge the role of nonverbal communication in the hearings; and (3) interviews with the MPs, peers, central bankers, and Treasury officials who participated in the hearings. The first method measures the content of 'what' was said, the second examines 'how' the words and arguments were expressed, and the third provides a more reflective 'why' component by asking participants to explain their motivations. This merging of the 'what', the 'how', and the 'why' offers a novel template for studying both accountability and deliberation.


Book Synopsis Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees by : Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Download or read book Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees written by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, we have seen an explosion in expectations for greater accountability of public policymaking. But, as accountability has increased, trust in governments and politicians has fallen. By focusing on the heart of public accountability--the reason-giving by policymakers for their policy decisions (i.e. deliberative accountability)--this work offers an empirical route for understanding why more accountability may not always deliver more public trust. The focus is on the British Parliament, where both the Treasury Select Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee hold hearings on monetary policy, financial stability, and fiscal policy. The intent in these hearings is to challenge policymakers to explain their decisions, and thus the dialogue is expected to be deliberative. But how do we judge the quality of this deliberative accountability? Three metrics are explored and measured: respect, non-partisanship, and reciprocity. The approach is multi-method, including (1) quantitative text analysis to gauge the verbatim transcripts in committee hearings; (2) qualitative coding combined with an experimental design to gauge the role of nonverbal communication in the hearings; and (3) interviews with the MPs, peers, central bankers, and Treasury officials who participated in the hearings. The first method measures the content of 'what' was said, the second examines 'how' the words and arguments were expressed, and the third provides a more reflective 'why' component by asking participants to explain their motivations. This merging of the 'what', the 'how', and the 'why' offers a novel template for studying both accountability and deliberation.

Interest and Prices

Interest and Prices

Author: Michael Woodford

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-12-12

Total Pages: 805

ISBN-13: 1400830168

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With the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, any pretense of a connection of the world's currencies to any real commodity has been abandoned. Yet since the 1980s, most central banks have abandoned money-growth targets as practical guidelines for monetary policy as well. How then can pure "fiat" currencies be managed so as to create confidence in the stability of national units of account? Interest and Prices seeks to provide theoretical foundations for a rule-based approach to monetary policy suitable for a world of instant communications and ever more efficient financial markets. In such a world, effective monetary policy requires that central banks construct a conscious and articulate account of what they are doing. Michael Woodford reexamines the foundations of monetary economics, and shows how interest-rate policy can be used to achieve an inflation target in the absence of either commodity backing or control of a monetary aggregate. The book further shows how the tools of modern macroeconomic theory can be used to design an optimal inflation-targeting regime--one that balances stabilization goals with the pursuit of price stability in a way that is grounded in an explicit welfare analysis, and that takes account of the "New Classical" critique of traditional policy evaluation exercises. It thus argues that rule-based policymaking need not mean adherence to a rigid framework unrelated to stabilization objectives for the sake of credibility, while at the same time showing the advantages of rule-based over purely discretionary policymaking.


Book Synopsis Interest and Prices by : Michael Woodford

Download or read book Interest and Prices written by Michael Woodford and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-12-12 with total page 805 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, any pretense of a connection of the world's currencies to any real commodity has been abandoned. Yet since the 1980s, most central banks have abandoned money-growth targets as practical guidelines for monetary policy as well. How then can pure "fiat" currencies be managed so as to create confidence in the stability of national units of account? Interest and Prices seeks to provide theoretical foundations for a rule-based approach to monetary policy suitable for a world of instant communications and ever more efficient financial markets. In such a world, effective monetary policy requires that central banks construct a conscious and articulate account of what they are doing. Michael Woodford reexamines the foundations of monetary economics, and shows how interest-rate policy can be used to achieve an inflation target in the absence of either commodity backing or control of a monetary aggregate. The book further shows how the tools of modern macroeconomic theory can be used to design an optimal inflation-targeting regime--one that balances stabilization goals with the pursuit of price stability in a way that is grounded in an explicit welfare analysis, and that takes account of the "New Classical" critique of traditional policy evaluation exercises. It thus argues that rule-based policymaking need not mean adherence to a rigid framework unrelated to stabilization objectives for the sake of credibility, while at the same time showing the advantages of rule-based over purely discretionary policymaking.

From the Corn Laws to Free Trade

From the Corn Laws to Free Trade

Author: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 0262195437

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The repeal of Britain's Corn Laws in 1846, one of the most important economic policy decisions of the 19th century, has long intrigued and puzzled political scientists, historians, and economists. This book examines the interacting forces that brought about the abrupt beginning of Britain's free-trade empire.


Book Synopsis From the Corn Laws to Free Trade by : Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Download or read book From the Corn Laws to Free Trade written by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The repeal of Britain's Corn Laws in 1846, one of the most important economic policy decisions of the 19th century, has long intrigued and puzzled political scientists, historians, and economists. This book examines the interacting forces that brought about the abrupt beginning of Britain's free-trade empire.

Institutional Frameworks for Social Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

Institutional Frameworks for Social Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Rodrigo Martínez

Publisher: UN

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13:

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Foreword .-- Introduction .-- Part 1. Social policy institutions. -- Chapter I. Institutional framework for social development / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Chapter II. Social development and social protection institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: overview and challenges / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Part 2. Components and institutional framewoek of social protection. -- Chapter III. Labour market regulation and social protection: institutional challenges / Mario D. Velásquez Pinto .-- Chapter IV. Institutional aspects of Latin America's pension systems / Andras Uthoff .-- Chapter V. Care as a pillar of social protection: rights, policies and institutions in Latin America / María Nieves Rico, Claudia Robles .-- Part 3. Policies for specific populations and their institutional framework .-- Chapter VI. Life cycle and social policies: youth institutions in the region / Daniela Trucco .-- Chapter VII. Disability and public policy: institutional progress and challenges in Latin America / Heidi Ullmann .-- Chapter VIII. Latin American Afrodescendants: institutional framework and public policies / Marta Rangel.


Book Synopsis Institutional Frameworks for Social Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean by : Rodrigo Martínez

Download or read book Institutional Frameworks for Social Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean written by Rodrigo Martínez and published by UN. This book was released on 2018 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword .-- Introduction .-- Part 1. Social policy institutions. -- Chapter I. Institutional framework for social development / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Chapter II. Social development and social protection institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: overview and challenges / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Part 2. Components and institutional framewoek of social protection. -- Chapter III. Labour market regulation and social protection: institutional challenges / Mario D. Velásquez Pinto .-- Chapter IV. Institutional aspects of Latin America's pension systems / Andras Uthoff .-- Chapter V. Care as a pillar of social protection: rights, policies and institutions in Latin America / María Nieves Rico, Claudia Robles .-- Part 3. Policies for specific populations and their institutional framework .-- Chapter VI. Life cycle and social policies: youth institutions in the region / Daniela Trucco .-- Chapter VII. Disability and public policy: institutional progress and challenges in Latin America / Heidi Ullmann .-- Chapter VIII. Latin American Afrodescendants: institutional framework and public policies / Marta Rangel.

Political Bubbles

Political Bubbles

Author: Nolan McCarty

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013-05-21

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1400846390

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Behind every financial crisis lurks a "political bubble"--policy biases that foster market behaviors leading to financial instability. Rather than tilting against risky behavior, political bubbles--arising from a potent combination of beliefs, institutions, and interests--aid, abet, and amplify risk. Demonstrating how political bubbles helped create the real estate-generated financial bubble and the 2008 financial crisis, this book argues that similar government oversights in the aftermath of the crisis undermined Washington's response to the "popped" financial bubble, and shows how such patterns have occurred repeatedly throughout US history. The authors show that just as financial bubbles are an unfortunate mix of mistaken beliefs, market imperfections, and greed, political bubbles are the product of rigid ideologies, unresponsive and ineffective government institutions, and special interests. Financial market innovations--including adjustable-rate mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and credit default swaps--become subject to legislated leniency and regulatory failure, increasing hazardous practices. The authors shed important light on the politics that blinds regulators to the economic weaknesses that create the conditions for economic bubbles and recommend simple, focused rules that should help avoid such crises in the future. The first full accounting of how politics produces financial ruptures, Political Bubbles offers timely lessons that all sectors would do well to heed.


Book Synopsis Political Bubbles by : Nolan McCarty

Download or read book Political Bubbles written by Nolan McCarty and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-21 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Behind every financial crisis lurks a "political bubble"--policy biases that foster market behaviors leading to financial instability. Rather than tilting against risky behavior, political bubbles--arising from a potent combination of beliefs, institutions, and interests--aid, abet, and amplify risk. Demonstrating how political bubbles helped create the real estate-generated financial bubble and the 2008 financial crisis, this book argues that similar government oversights in the aftermath of the crisis undermined Washington's response to the "popped" financial bubble, and shows how such patterns have occurred repeatedly throughout US history. The authors show that just as financial bubbles are an unfortunate mix of mistaken beliefs, market imperfections, and greed, political bubbles are the product of rigid ideologies, unresponsive and ineffective government institutions, and special interests. Financial market innovations--including adjustable-rate mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and credit default swaps--become subject to legislated leniency and regulatory failure, increasing hazardous practices. The authors shed important light on the politics that blinds regulators to the economic weaknesses that create the conditions for economic bubbles and recommend simple, focused rules that should help avoid such crises in the future. The first full accounting of how politics produces financial ruptures, Political Bubbles offers timely lessons that all sectors would do well to heed.