Inflation Targeting

Alan Greenspan is famous for warning about the “irrational exuberance” of financial markets when he was Federal Reserve chairman. However, it was precisely his conviction that central bankers couldn’t determine when asset prices were unduly frothy that allowed one bubble after another to form and that made his successor hesitate to intervene in the run-up to the Great Recession. According to economist David Beckworth, central banking history is replete with policies – such as the gold standard and the Phillips curve – that were great successes at first but that later stumbled. getAbstract recommends Beckworth’s thoughtful look at the latest “last word” in monetary policy – inflation targeting – to economists, financial professionals and dedicated Fed watchers.