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Working Paper
Inflation risk and optimal monetary policy
This paper shows that the optimal monetary policies recommended by New Keynesian models still imply a large amount of inflation risk. We calculate the term structure of inflation uncertainty in New Keynesian models when the monetary authority adopts the optimal policy. When the monetary policy rules are modified to include some weight on a price path, the economy achieves equilibria with substantially lower long-run inflation risk. With either sticky prices or sticky wages, a price path target reduces the variance of inflation by an order of magnitude more than it increases the variability of ...
Working Paper
No smoking at the slot machines: the effect of a smoke-free law on Delaware gaming revenues
As communities around the nation consider laws restricting smoking in public places, a key political and economic issue that often arises is the effect that such laws have on the sales and profits of particular sectors. The gaming industry has been active in opposition to such ordinances, citing large prospective losses. This article analyzes the revenues of three gaming facilities in Delaware following the implementation of a smoke-free law in December 2002. Revenues are found to have declined significantly at each of the three facilities, with relative magnitudes of losses corresponding to ...
Working Paper
Trade, investment, and international borrowing in two-country business cycle models
Two country applications of equilibrium business cycle methodology have succeeded in matching some key features of international fluctuations. However, discrepancies between theory and data remain. This paper identifies a new anomaly related to a basic property of typical models: the prediction of countercyclical net exports is fundamentally related to (counterfactual) implication for negative cross-country investment correlations. Although the introduction of investment adjustment costs can reverse this anomaly, it has the side-effect of inducing the wrong cyclical behavior for net exports. ...
Working Paper
Substitution elasticities and investment dynamics in two country business cycle models
Two country applications of equilibrium business cycle methodology have succeeded in matching some key features of international fluctuations. However, discrepancies between theory and data remain. This paper identifies an anomaly related to a basic property of typical models: The prediction of countercyclical net exports is fundamentally related to a counterfactual implication for negative cross-country investment correlations. The introduction of investment adjustment costs can induce positive investment comovement; however, this has the side-effect of reversing the cyclical behavior of net ...
Journal Article
Burger survey provides taste of international economics
An annual survey on the price of a hamburger in countries around the globe provides a surprisingly meaty lesson about relative currency valuations.
Journal Article
The business cycle and chain-weighted GDP: has our perspective changed?
Our perspective on the U.S. economy's recent performance has been challenged recently by changes in the methodology used to adjust the National Income and Product Accounts for inflation. Michael R. Pakko surveys the changes embodied in the revised data, examining the question of whether or not the revisions alter our view of the overall pattern of economic fluctuations known collectively as the business cycle.
Journal Article
Currency boards: monetary magic?
Journal Article
Discounting the discount rate
Journal Article
The economic impact of a smoking ban in Columbia, Missouri: an analysis of sales tax data for the first year
In January 2007, an ordinance took effect in Columbia, Missouri, banning smoking in all bars, restaurants, and workplaces. This paper analyzes data for sales tax collections at eating and drinking establishments from January 2001 through December 2007, including the first twelve months of the smoking ban. The analysis accounts for trends, seasonality, general business conditions, and weather. The findings suggest that the smoking ban has been associated with statistically significant losses in sales tax revenues at Columbia's bars and restaurants, with an average decline of approximately 3 to ...
Journal Article
Capital deepening