Joseph H. Haslag

Optimality of the Friedman Rule in an Overlapping Generations Model with Spatial Separation

We examine models with spatial separation and limited communication that have shown some promise toward resolving the disparity between theory and practice concerning optimal monetary policy; these models suggest that the Friedman rule may not be optimal. We show that intergenerational transfers play a key role in this result, the Friedman rule is a necessary condition for an efficient allocation in equilibrium, and the Friedman rule is chosen whenever agents can implement mutually beneficial arrangements. We conclude that in order for these models to resolve the aforementioned disparity, they must answer the following question: Where do the frictions that prevent agents from implementing mutually beneficial arrangements come from?

Does it matter how monetary policy is implemented

Abstract In the U.S., existing monetary base measures add an adjustment factor for changes in reserve requirement ratios to high powered money. Implicitly, the monetary base assumes that the economic effects of changes in reserve requirements are identical to those due to changes in high-powered money. Theory, however, does not generally support the prediction that the two policy tools will have the same economic effects. Structural VARs are estimated to compare the short-run paths of inflation and output growth under two different types of policy shocks. In doing so, this analysis gives one a measure of the costs associated with this implicit equivalence assumption. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the Federal Reserve at least partially offsets reserve requirement changes with open market operations and the hypothesis that dynamic explanations of macroeconomic variables are improved by separating reserve requirement changes from other monetary policy moves.

Are net discount ratios stationary?: the implications for present value calculations

Article discussing research analyzing the relationship between real interest rates and real growth rates in wages.

On the optimality of interest-bearing reserves in economies of overlapping generations

SummaryPaying interest on required reserves is considered in an overlapping generations model in which the return to capital dominates the return to fiat money. As Smith (1991) showed, financing interest on reserves benefits the initial old at the expense of future generations. We show that the transfer of wealth associated with interest on reserves can be offset by an accommodating open market purchase, so that the payment of interest on reserves is a Pareto improvement. We also show that paying interest on reserves improves welfare even when financed by distorting taxes on capital.

Who is Afraid of the Friedman Rule

We explore the connection between optimal monetary policy and heterogeneity among agents. We utilize a standard monetary economy with two types of agents that differ in the marginal utility they derive from real money balances-a framework that produces a nondegenerate stationary distribution of money holdings. Without type-specific fiscal policy, we show that the zero-nominal-interest-rate policy (the Friedman rule) does not maximize type-specific welfare; further, it may not maximize aggregate ex ante social welfare. Indeed one or, more surprisingly, both types of agents may benefit if the central bank deviates from the Friedman rule.

Coyote Crossings: The Role of Smugglers in Illegal Immigration and Border Enforcement

Illegal immigration and border enforcement in the United States have increased concomitantly for over thirty years. One interpretation is that U.S. border policies have been ineffective. We offer an alternative view, extending the current immigration-enforcement literature by incorporating both the practice of people smuggling and a role for non-wage income into a two-country, dynamic general equilibrium model. We state conditions under which two steady state equilibria exist: one with a low level of capital and high amount of illegal immigration and the other with a high level of capital, but relatively little migration. We then analyze two shocks: a positive technology shock to smuggling services and an increase in border enforcement. In the low-capital steady state, the capital-labor ratio declines with technological progress in smuggling, while illegal immigration increases. In the high-capital steady state, a technology shock causes the capital-labor ratio to rise while the effect on migration is indeterminate. We show that an increase in border enforcement is qualitatively equivalent to a negative technology shock to smuggling. Finally we show that a developed country would never choose small levels of border enforcement over an open border. Moreover, a high level of border enforcement is optimal only if it significantly decreases capital accumulation. In addition, we provide conditions under which an increase in smuggler technology will lead to a decline in the optimal level of enforcement.

Are Net Discount Rates Stationary?: Some Further Evidence

Article discussing research suggesting that the net discount ration experienced a level shift in the mean between 1977 and 1981 and the resulting possible affects.

Implementing monetary base rules: The currency problem

Abstract Monetary policy rules which rely on the monetary base have been advocated by Meltzer and McCallum. Proponents claim that following monetary base rules would minimize fluctuations around the target growth rate for nominal GNP. Critics of such rules contend that currency has not been properly accounted for in their analysis. This paper examines McCallums monetary base rule by explicitly taking the demand for currency into account. Assuming that currency is supplied elastically, our investigation quantifies changes in the composition of the monetary base under these rules and provides an estimate of how these compositional changes might affect the variability around the target nominal GNP growth rate.

Sub-optimality of the Friedman rule in Townsend's turnpike and stochastic relocation models of money: Do finite lives and initial dates matter?

The Friedman rule, a widely studied prescription for monetary policy, is optimal in Townsends turnpike model of money; it is not so in the overlapping generations version of his stochastic relocation model of money. We investigate these monetary models in the light of this disparity. To that end, we create a modified version of the turnpike model that generates the same stationary monetary equilibria as does the two-period overlapping generations model with random relocation. We exploit this equivalence to explain the aforementioned disparity. We also discuss the importance of whether or not the economy has an initial date.

Macroeconomic Activity and Monetary Policy Actions: Some Preliminary Evidence

Monetary policy is conducted through open market operations, loans at the discount window, and changes in the reserve requirement structure. The purpose of this paper is to formally investigate the notion that the effect of changes in reserve requirement ratios is different from the effect of other policy tools. This is accomplished by decomposing the monetary base into those changes caused by changes in reserve requirement ratios and those caused by other monetary policy actions. Some preliminary evidence suggesting differential real effects from the policy tools is provided. Copyright 1992 by Ohio State University Press.