Fed, beware of the inflation!

The model explains that persistent effects from the financial crisis are the main reason inflation is expected to remain low for so long. The financial crisis disrupted the credit market, leading to underinvestment and underutilization of resources in the economy. This slowed the economic recovery and pushed inflation down more than 2 percentage points, according to the model.

In contrast, the model suggests monetary policy pushed inflation up by 0.8 percentage point. This is expected to fall to zero by the end of 2016. Comparatively speaking, monetary policy appears to be far from causing excessive inflation under present circumstances.

It´s much more straightforward than that. It all boils down to how the Fed handles nominal spending (NGDP). The set of charts illustrate for different periods.

The 1970s harbored the “Great Inflation” because the Fed “manned” NGDP growth on an upward trend. Things get “shaky” when an oil shock hits, but the inflation trend is basically determined by the NGDP growth trend.

Read the whole article here.

About the Author

Marcus Nunes
João Marcus Marinho Nunes is a partner of Phynance Estratégias Quantitativas e Investimentos and a professor of Economics at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil. He also blogs here: http://thefaintofheart.wordpress.com/

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