Thursday, December 13, 2012

NGDP targeting - we are (almost) there (bs)

Probably not just our dear colleague amv is all excited about the FED's new conditional QE3 program. In contrast to previous rounds of QE, now the FED announced to tailor its asset purchases to explicit targets of economic activity and inflation:

 [...] the Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that this exceptionally low range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6-1/2 percent, inflation between one and two years ahead is projected to be no more than a half percentage point above the Committee’s 2 percent longer-run goal, and longer-term inflation expectations continue to be well anchored. The Committee views these thresholds as consistent with its earlier date-based guidance. In determining how long to maintain a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy [...]

As popular proponents of NGDP level targeting posit (here), this step comes very close to the desired policy change.