Skip to main content

Inflation Expectations

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 59 Accesses

Abstract

Agents’ expectations about future values of inflation play an important role in macroeconomic analysis. From a steady-state perspective, higher expected inflation rates induce agents to hold smaller real money balances and, in most models, to hold different amounts of capital. In dynamic analysis, inflationary expectations affect agents’ decisions regarding saving and price adjustments, and affect monetary policy behaviour in ways that have become increasingly important. Over time, analysts’ treatment of expectations evolved from distributed-lag, adaptive models to rational expectations, a change that had major analytical implications. Analysis of learning behaviour has become more prominent, supplementing or occasionally replacing rational expectations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Bailey, M.J. 1956. The welfare cost of inflationary finance. Journal of Political Economy 64 (2): 93–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barro, R.J., and S. Fischer. 1976. Recent developments in monetary theory. Journal of Monetary Economics 2: 133–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib, J., and R.E.A. Farmer. 1999. Indeterminacy and sunspots in macroeconomics. In Handbook of macroeconomics, ed. J.B. Taylor and M. Woodford. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernanke, B.S., T. Laubach, F.S. Mishkin, and A.S. Posen. 1999. Inflation targeting: Lessons from the international experience. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullard, J., and K. Mitra. 2002. Learning monetary policy rules. Journal of Monetary Economics 49: 1105–1129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cagan, P. 1956. The monetary dynamics of hyperinflation. In Studies in the quantity theory of money, ed. M. Friedman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calvo, G.A. 1983. Staggered prices in a utility-maximizing framework. Journal of Monetary Economics 12: 383–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarida, R., J. Gali, and M. Gertler. 1999. The science of monetary policy: A new Keynesian perspective. Journal of Economic Literature 37: 1661–1707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeCanio, S. 1979. Rational expectations and learning from experience. Quarterly Journal of Economics 94: 47–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggertsson, G.B., and M. Woodford. 2003. The zero bound on interest rates and optimal monetary policy. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2003 (1): 139–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G.W. 1986. Selection criteria for models with non-uniqueness. Journal of Monetary Economics 18: 147–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G.W., and S. Honkapohja. 1992. On the robustness of bubbles in linear RE models. International Economic Review 33: 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G.W., and S. Honkapohja. 2001. Learning and expectations in macroeconomics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, S. 1977. Long-term contracts, rational expectations, and the optimal money supply rule. Journal of Political Economy 85: 191–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, I. 1896. Appreciation and interest. New York: American Economic Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, I. 1930. The theory of interest. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, M.E., and J.J. Seater. 1993. Long-run neutrality and superneutrality in an ARIMA framework. American Economic Review 83: 402–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1960. A program for monetary stability. New York: Fordham University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1966. Comments. In Guidelines, informal controls, and the market place, ed. G.P. Shultz and R.Z. Aliber. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1968. The role of monetary policy. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 58: 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1969. The optimum quantity of money and other essays. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodfriend, M., and R.G. King. 1997. The new neoclassical synthesis and the role of monetary policy. In NBER macroeconomics annual 1997, ed. B.S. Bernanke and J.J. Rotemberg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodfriend, M., and R.G. King. 2005. The incredible Volcker disinflation. Journal of Monetary Economics 52: 981–1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R.J. 1976. Recent developments in the theory of inflation and unemployment. Journal of Monetary Economics 2: 185–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, T.M. 1983. The early history of the real/nominal interest rate relationship. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Review 69 (3): 2–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, R.G., and M.W. Watson 1992. Testing long-run neutrality. Working paper no. 4156. Cambridge, MA: NBER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R.E. Jr. 1972a. Expectations and the neutrality of money. Journal of Economic Theory 4: 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R.E. Jr. 1972b. Econometric testing of the natural rate hypothesis. In The econometrics of price determination conference, ed. O. Eckstein. Washington, DC: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R.E. Jr. 1973. Some international evidence on output inflation tradeoffs. American Economic Review 63: 326–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mankiw, N.G., and R. Reis. 2002. Sticky information versus sticky prices: A proposal to replace the new Keynesian Phillips curve. Quarterly Journal of Economics 117: 1295–1328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcet, A., and T.J. Sargent. 1989. Convergence of least-squares learning mechanisms in self-referential linear stochastic models. Journal of Economic Theory 48: 337–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, A. 1890. Principles of economics. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, B.T. 1976. Rational expectations and the natural rate hypothesis: Some consistent estimates. Econometrica 44: 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, B.T. 1984. Low-frequency estimates of long-run relationships in macroeconomics. Journal of Monetary Economics 14: 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, B.T. 1990. Inflation: Theory and evidence. In Handbook of monetary economics, ed. B.M. Friedman and F.H. Hahn. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, B.T. 2003. Multiple-solution indeterminacies in monetary policy analysis. Journal of Monetary Economics 50: 1153–1175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muth, J.F. 1961. Rational expectations and the theory of price movements. Econometrica 29: 315–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orphanides, A., and J.C. Williams. 2005. Imperfect knowledge, inflation expectations, and monetary policy. In The inflation targeting debate, ed. B.S. Bernanke and M. Woodford. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, E.S. 1967. Phillips curves, expectations of inflation, and optimal unemployment over time. Economica 34: 254–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotemberg, J.J., and M. Woodford. 1997. An optimization-based econometric framework for the evaluation of monetary policy. In NBER macroeconomics annual 1997, ed. B.S. Bernanke and J.J. Rotemberg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sargent, T.J. 1971. A note on the accelerationist controversy. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 3: 721–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sargent, T.J. 1973. Rational expectations, the real rate of interest, and the natural rate of unemployment. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1973 (2): 429–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sargent, T.J. 1993. Bounded rationality in macroeconomics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidrauski, M. 1967. Rational choice and patterns of growth in a monetary economy. American Economic Review 57: 534–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow, R.M. 1969. Price expectations and the behavior of the price level. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensson, L.E.O., and M. Woodford. 2005. Implementing optimal policy through inflation-forecast targeting. In The inflation-targeting debate, ed. B.S. Bernanke and M. Woodford. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J.B. 1980. Aggregate dynamics and staggered contracts. Journal of Political Economy 88: 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, H. 1802. An enquiry into the nature and effects of the paper credit of Great Britain, ed. F.A. von Hayek. Fairfield: Kelley, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman, C.H. 1984. Lucas on the quantity theory: Hypothesis testing without theory. American Economic Review 74: 742–749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicksell, K. 1898. Interest and prices. Trans. R.F. Kahn. London: Macmillan, 1936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodford, M. 2003. Interest and prices: Foundations of a theory of monetary policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

McCallum, B.T. (2018). Inflation Expectations. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_793

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics