Abstract
In an economy in which debt obligations are fixed in nominal terms, a monetary policy focused narrowly on controlling inflation insulates lenders from aggregate output risk, leaving borrowers as residual claimants. This concentration of risk has the potential to exacerbate the financial distress associated with adverse supply shocks. A better risk distribution is obtained if the price level is allowed to rise whenever output is unexpectedly weak. Illustrative examples are presented in which an appropriately countercyclical inflation policy exactly reproduces the risk allocation that one would observe with perfect capital markets.
Authors
- Evan F. Koenig
JEL codes
- E52
- G10
- E44