“Evaluating Monetary Policy,” speech at Uppsala University, March 13, 2009. English, Swedish.

The line: When evaluating a flexible inflation-targeting regime, it is not enough to simply compare the outcome for inflation with the inflation target; it is necessary to evaluate the central bank’s decisions primarily on the basis of the information that was available when the decisions were made (ex ante).

New publication (update of above speech): “Evaluating Monetary Policy,”  in Koenig, Evan F., Robert Leeson, and George A. Kahn, eds., The Taylor Rule and the Transformation of Monetary Policy, Hoover Institution Press, 2012, p. 245-274. PDF. Abstract.

The line: With a modified Taylor curve, the forecast Taylor curve, and plots of mean squared gaps showing the tradeoff between the variability of the inflation-gap and output-gap forecasts it is possible to evaluate policy ex ante, that is, taking into account the information available at the time of the policy decisions, and even evaluate policy in real time.

Sweden: Finance Committee Report (Finansutskottets betänkande) 2006/07:Fi27, June 2007, PDF (Swedish)

Sweden: Giavazzi, Francesco, and Frederic S. Mishkin, “An Evaluation of Swedish Monetary Policy, 1995-2005,” November 2006. PDF, press release.

“Reviews of Monetary Policy in New Zealand and Norway,” Newsletter, July 2004, Study Center Gerzensee, Gerzensee, Switzerland. PDF (99 KB).

Norway: “An Independent Review of Monetary Policy and Institutions in Norway,” by Lars E.O. Svensson (chair) (Princeton University), Kjetil Houg (Alfred Berg), Haakon Solheim (Norwegian School of Management BI) and Erling Steigum (Norwegian School of Management BI), Norges Bank Watch 2002, Centre for Monetary Economics, Norwegian School of Management BI, September 2002.

New Zealand: “Independent Review of the Operation of Monetary Policy in New Zealand: Report to the Minister of Finance,” February 2001.