Comment on Stanley Fischer: The Costs and Benefits of Disinflation

Abstract

First, I should like to thank the organisers for my last-minute opportunity to discuss Stanley Fischer’s paper “The costs and benefits of disinflation”. Despite such short notice I was, in view of the great relevance of the subject and the author’s authority, unable to resist accepting the role of discussant. My only regret is not to have had greater time in which to prepare my comments to the extent the subject and the author merit. Unquestionably, the costs and benefits of attaining price stability are pivotal to the macroeconomic debate of recent decades. They likewise have major and serious implications for the definition and pursuit of economic policies, in particular monetary policy. My comments will focus on those issues most related to the design and implementation of monetary policy from the standpoint of the problems and dilemmas facing policy-makers.