摘要：The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, we characterize the Fed’s
systematic response to technology shocks and its implications for U.S. output, hours
and inflation. Second we evaluate the extent to which that responses can be accounted
for by a simple monetary policy rule (including the optimal one) in the context of a
standard business cycle model with sticky prices. Our main results can be described
as follows: First, we detect significant differences across periods in the response of
the economy (as well as the Fed’s) to a technology shock. Second, the Fed’s response
to a technology shock in the Volcker-Greenspan period is consistent with a optimal
monetary policy rule. Third, in the pre-Volcker period the Fed’s policy tended to
over stabilize output at the cost of generating excessive inflation volatility. Hence our
evidence reinforces recent results in the literature suggesting an improvement in the
Fed’s performance.
