ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY,MONETARY UNCERTAINTY AND THE DEMAND FOR MONEY IN AUSTRALIA

The demand for money and its stability in Australia has received a great deal of attention in the past and has resulted in its own literature. Depending upon estimation method and period of analysis, previous research has provided mixed findings. By including a measure of economic uncertainty and a measure of monetary uncertainty (both GARCH‐based) in the long‐run money demand for M3, and by using the bounds testing approach under which variables could be stationary or non‐stationary, we provide strong evidence that the M3 money demand in Australia is stable. Both uncertainty measures do have short‐run as well as long‐run effects on the demand for M3 in Australia, factors that previous research did not consider.     

How justified is abandoning money in the conduct of monetary policy in Australia on the grounds of instability in the money‐demand function?

The role of money in the design and conduct of monetary policy has reemerged as an important issue in both advanced and developing economies, especially since the 2007 global financial crisis. A growing body of recent literature suggests that the causal relationship between money supply growth and inflation remains intact across countries and over time and that this relation is not conditional on the stability of the money‐demand function or whether money is endogenous or exogenous. Moreover, critical for a rule‐based monetary policy is the presence of a long‐run stable money‐demand function, rather than a short‐run money‐demand model that may exhibit instability for many reasons, including problems with estimating a money‐demand model with high‐frequency data. Provided that a stable money‐demand function exists, it could be useful to establish long‐run equilibrium relations among money, output, prices, and exchange rates, as the classical monetary theory suggests. Within this analytical framework, this paper addresses the question of whether money has any role in the conduct of monetary policy in Australia. The conventional wisdom is that the money‐demand function in Australia has been unstable since the mid‐1980s due to financial deregulation and reforms; this led to a change in the strategy of monetary policy for price stability in the form of inflation targeting that ignores money insofar as inflation and its control are concerned. This paper reports empirical findings for Australia, obtained from a longer quarterly data series over the period 1960Q1–2015Q1, which suggest that instability in the narrow‐money‐demand function in Australia was primarily due to the exclusion of variables which have become important in the deregulated environment since the 1980s. These findings are confirmed by an expanded form of the narrow‐money‐demand function that was found stable over the past two decades, although it experienced multiple structural breaks over the study period. The paper draws the conclusion that abandoning the monetary aggregate as an instrument of monetary policy in Australia, under a rule‐based monetary policy such as inflation targeting, cannot be justified by instability in the money‐demand function or even by lack of a causal link between money supply growth and inflation.     

The Monetary Analysis of Hyperinflation and the Appropriate Specification of the Demand for Money

Abstract. This paper emerges from the failure of the traditional models of hyperinflation with perfect foresight. Insights from two standard optimizing monetary settings and economic reasoning from case studies of extreme hyperinflation episodes provide relevant requirements for the specification of the demand for money during hyperinflation. The paper demonstrates that the possibility of perfect foresight monetary hyperinflation paths depends robustly on the essentiality of money. The essentiality of money provides some depth of explanation of the reasons why the popular semi‐log schedule of the demand for money is not appropriate for analysing monetary hyperinflation with perfect foresight. The paper proposes a simple test of money essentiality for the appropriate specification of the demand‐for‐money equation in empirical studies of hyperinflation.     

新古典生产函数的质疑与货币量值的生产函数

新古典理论以生产函数和效用函数为基础,建立了技术关系的稀缺资源有效配置理论,其核心是表明商品和要素稀缺性的相对价格.生产函数在微观尚可应用,但并不能用于解释总量经济和经济增长与波动问题.尤其是总供给完全取决于实物生产函数的投入产出关系,这与总需求分析所采用的货币支出是不协调的.货币量值的生产函数的推导表明,总供给只是企业的货币成本函数而不联系到技术上的投入产出关系,而所有的国民收入核算中的货币量值都只是表明人们经济关系的名义变量而与实物的技术关系或生产函数是完全无关的.     

MONEY DEMAND STABILITY AND INFLATION PREDICTION IN THE FOUR LARGEST EMU COUNTRIES

In this paper, we analyze the money demand functions of the four largest EMU countries and of the four-country (EMU-4) aggregate. We identify reasonable and stable money demand relationships for Germany, France and Spain as well as the EMU-4 aggregate. For the case of Italy, results are less clear. From the estimated money demand functions, we derive both EMU-4 and country-specific measures of money overhang. We find that the EMU-4 overhang measure strongly correlates with the country-specific measures, particularly since the start of EMU, and is useful to predict country-specific inflation. However, it generally does not encompass country-specific money overhang measures as predictors of inflation. Hence, aggregate money overhang is an important, but by far not an exhaustive, indicator for the disaggregate level.     

The response of aggregate demand to income,money supply,and price level

The response elasticities of (nominal) aggregate demand to the price level and to other nominal variables (e.g., money supply) are both positive but smaller than one. Aggregate demand is less/as responsive to real income than/as to the price level in the short/long run. Real aggregate demand is less/as responsive to real income than/as nominal aggregate demand is to the price level in the short/long run. Some uses of these results are indicated.     

Economic Uncertainty,Monetary Uncertainty,and the Demand for Money: Evidence From Asian Countries

In 1984 Nobel Lauriat Milton Friedman claimed that the decline in velocity of money or an increase in the demand for money was due to volatility of money supply. Another study argued that if monetary volatility could impact the demand for money, so can output volatility (as a measure of economic uncertainty). Both measures of uncertainty can cause people to reallocate their assets between cash and real assets that are less risky. If public become more cautious about the future, they will hold more cash today. However, if they chose to hedge against uncertain prices, they may hold more real assets and less cash. These two hypotheses are tested for Asian countries using bounds testing approach. While both measures are found to have short‐run significant effects on the demand for money in almost all countries, the short‐run effects last into the long run in half of the countries. Furthermore, we find positive and negative effects of both measures which are in line with previous research related to a few developed countries.     

WEALTH,ASSET PORTFOLIO,MONEY DEMAND AND POLICY RULE

I look at the linkages between monetary policy and asset wealth using quarterly data for the USA. I show that a positive interest rate shock leads to a fall in aggregate wealth and an important change in portfolio composition: housing wealth gradually decreases, but the effects are very persistent; and financial wealth quickly shrinks, but the impact is short‐lived. I also find that the money market can be characterized as follows: (i) the money demand has a large interest elasticity and a small output elasticity; and (ii) the estimated monetary policy reaction function highlights the special focus given by the central bank to developments in monetary aggregates. These features call for an approach whereby monetary authorities put more emphasis on tracking wealth developments, in particular, given the asset portfolio rebalancing between money holdings and financial and/or housing assets.     

Does money have a role in the inflation process? Evidence from Australia

Inflation, defined as a sustained increase in the price level, is considered a monetary phenomenon, as it can be explained within the framework of money‐demand and money‐supply relationships. In the extant literature, money growth is shown to remain causally related to inflation across countries and over time, irrespective of the exchange rate regime and stability of the money‐demand function. Nevertheless, emerging literature suggests a diminishing role of money in the conduct of monetary policy for price stability, especially under inflation targeting. Monetary policy in Australia under inflation targeting since 1993 is an example of policy that denies a relationship between money growth and inflation. The proposition that money does not matter insofar as inflation is concerned seems odd in both theory and the best‐practice monetary policy for price stability. This paper uses annual data for the period 1970–2017 and quarterly data for the period 1970Q1–2015Q1. It deploys both the Johansen cointegration approach and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration approach to investigate for Australia whether money, real output, prices and the exchange rate (non‐stationary variables) maintain the long‐run price‐level relationship that the classical monetary theory suggests in the presence of such stationary variables as the domestic and foreign interest rates. As expected, the empirical findings for Australia are consistent with the classical long‐run price‐level relationship between money, real output, prices and the exchange rate. The error‐correction model of inflation confirms the presence of a cointegral relationship among these variables; it also provides strong evidence of a short‐run causal relationship between money supply growth and inflation. On the basis of a priori theoretical predictions and empirical findings, the paper draws the conclusion that the monetary aggregate and its growth rate matter insofar as inflation is concerned, irrespective of the strategy of monetary policy for price stability.     

Estimating A European Demand For Money

European Monetary Union will come into existence in 1999. This raises questions related to the monetary policy targets that will be adopted by the European Central Bank (ECB). For both likely candidates, targeting a money aggregate or an inflation target, the existence of a stable money demand function at a European level is important. In this paper estimates of such a European money demand for narrow and broad money for the actual 11 EMU countries based on quarterly aggregate data from 1964 to 1994 are presented. It is argued that statistically satisfactory and economically interpretable functions can be found. Moreover, the estimated models appear to be stable over a period of 20 quarters. This raises the hopes that the ECB will face a stable money demand and be able—at least for a certain time—to use past aggregate data for policy purposes.     

简论实际冲击与实物储备调控机制

实际冲击对经济周期产生的影响可以通过总供给与总需求的矛盾表现出来。实际冲击发生后,由于总供给与总需求之间存在着时间不一致性,总供给与总需求均衡关系被打破,在经济周期衰退阶段中,总供给大于总需求;在经济周期扩张阶段中,总供给小于总需求。实物储备调控作为不可逆的承诺可信的规则,具有内在的时间一致性,对于解决实际冲击造成的经济波动具有特别的意义。通过实物储备稳定功能、应急功能、蓄水池功能作用的发挥,可以大幅度降低经济周期的波动幅度,有效地避免实际冲击带来的灾难性损失。     

我国货币需求的协整分析及其货币政策建议

本文运用协整以及弱外生和短期因果关系检验 ,对我国货币需求的长期稳定性进行实证 ,由此而产生的主要结论为 :我国货币需求的长期稳定性 (协整 )依赖于时间趋势 ,货币政策目标变量为M1,实际货币政策效应主要体现在促进经济增长。我国货币需求和利率是关于协整向量的弱外生变量。基于上述结论所提出的政策建议为 :当前的货币政策重点应转向于防范通胀     

Relative prices and the demand for money

This paper examines the validity of the conventional specification of money demand with particular reference to the issue of relative prices. It is shown that the conventional money demand function is based on the assumption of weak separability of money from commodities, which forms the basis for the absence of relative prices in money demand. Empirical and presumptive evidence suggests that weak separability is not tenable, implying that relative prices are important in money demand. The inclusion of commodity prices in money demand significantly affects the interest and income elasticity estimates. Finally, it is noted that the aggregate consumption function excluding commodity prices also has no theoretical and empirical base.     

Wage indexation and the unemployment-inflation trade-off

A variety of wage indexation schemes are analyzed in the context of a simple dynamic disequilibrium macroeconomic model. These indexation schemes include rigid money wages (zero indexation), rigid real wages (full indexation), and intermediate cases (partial indexation). In a situation of unemployment, aggregate demand increases produce the most desirable results under rigid money wages. In a situation of excess demand for labor, aggregate demand increases produce the least desirable effects under rigid money wages. Mixed indexation schemes, in which money or real wages are rigid downward, are also examined as are the effects of stop-go policies.     

MONETARY TARGETING IN WEST GERMANY,HOLLAND, AND SWITZERLAND

Links between fluctuations in domestic money supplies and subsequent fluctuations in rates of real output have been less visible in Western Europe than in the United States. This paper discusses some of the causes and investigates the stability of the demand for money in West Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In all three countries, temporary changes in short-term interest rates temporarily affect the demand for money. These temporary changes in the demand for money are reflected in temporary blips in the monetary statistics, as agents substitute among various monetary assets. The hypothesis that aggregate demand responds only to longer-lasting changes in interest rates is tested by a two-step procedure. First, the official data on European money supplies are corrected for temporary disturbances caused by temporary changes in domestic interest rates. Second, changes in real activity are regressed on a measure of monetary stimulus, which takes into account the correction for temporary disturbances. This two-step procedure avoids some of the bias present in ordinary estimates of the demand-for-money function. The results show that the links between changes in money and subsequent changes in output are somewhat more tenuous in West Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland than in the U.S. but significant effects do exist. These effects are more easily documented when corrected time series for the European money supplies are used.     

Substitution Between Money and Near-Monies in Switzerland

This paper investigates the substitutability between money and near-money assets during the period 1976 to 1996 in Switzerland. Financial developments have made a variety of instruments available to store wealth and conduct economic transactions. These developments have generated a “near money” component in households’ and businesses’ portfolio balances. It is important to evaluate the effect of “near-money” on money demand and the effectiveness of monetary policy. Towards this goal, five monetary assets: currency and demand deposits at commercial banks, demand deposits with the postal system, deposits on transaction accounts with banks, savings deposits and time deposits are considered. We evaluate the degree of substitutability among these assets using the Morishima elasticity. Results show that various monetary assets substitute for one another. Consistent with a high degree of diversification, the Morishima elasticity is significantly larger when adjustment takes place in the price of a relatively broader monetary asset as compared with a narrower one. Targeting a broad monetary aggregate captures a variety of assets that contribute to liquidity and aggregate demand, enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy. Nonetheless, high elasticity of substitution between monetary assets has made it increasingly difficult to target money demand via changes in the interest rate. As a result, in 1999 the Swiss National Bank abandoned monetary targeting in favor of an expected inflation target.

     

MONEY CYCLES

Operating overheads are widespread and lead to concentrated bursts of activity. To transfer resources between active and idle spells, agents demand financial assets. Futures contracts and lotteries are unsuitable, as they have substantial overheads of their own. We show that money—under efficient monetary policy—is a liquid asset that leads to efficient allocations. Under all other policies, agents follow inefficient “money cycle” patterns of saving, activity, and inactivity. Agents spend their money too quickly—a hot‐potato effect of inflation. We show that inflation can stimulate inefficiently high aggregate output.     

HOUSING WEALTH AND U.S. MONEY DEMAND: A PANEL ESTIMATION

This article estimates a panel model for U.S. money demand using annual state‐level data for the period from 1977 to 2008. We incorporate housing wealth in the demand‐for‐money function and find strong evidence of a relationship between a broad monetary aggregate and housing wealth. This finding is robust to the inclusion of variables measuring financial heterogeneity across U.S. regions. Breaking up the sample in two subperiods shows that panel estimates including housing wealth yield more stable coefficients than both time‐series estimates and panel estimates excluding housing wealth. We also show that the link between money and housing wealth predates the recent boom‐and‐bust cycle. (JEL E41, E52)     

Nominal Wage Flexibility and Economic Performance: Evidence and Implications Across Industrial Countries

By considering the theoretical connection between labour and product markets, the paper evaluates the economic relationship of these markets within the contractual wage rigidity New Keynesian explanation of business cycles. The empirical analysis focuses on the short‐run cyclical behaviour of real output, prices and wages for 19 industrial countries. Time‐series and cross‐sectional regressions are estimated. Cross‐sectional cyclical correlations in the labour and goods markets are also evaluated across countries. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, aggregate uncertainty is an important factor in increasing the flexibility of the nominal wage in response to aggregate demand shocks. Wage flexibility accelerates price inflation and moderates the response of real output growth to aggregate demand shocks. Wage flexibility does not appear to be an important factor in differentiating the real and inflationary effects of energy price shocks across countries. Finally, aggregate uncertainty increases the responsiveness of output and price to productivity shocks.