Price-Level Uncertainty, Price-Level Targeting, and Nominal Debt Contracts

Allan Crawford, Cesaire Meh () and Yaz Terajima ()

Bank of Canada Review, 2009, vol. 2009, issue Spring, pages 33-43

Abstract: Many central banks around the world have embraced inflation targeting as a monetary policy framework. Interest is growing, however, in price-level targeting as an alternative. The choice of frameworks has important consequences for financial contracts, most of which are not fully indexed to the price level. Changes in the price level therefore lead to changes in the real value of contracts. Price-level targeting would reduce the size of these changes in real wealth and decrease uncertainty about the future price level. This article assesses the merits of price-level targeting vis-à-vis inflation targeting from a debt-revaluation perspective, with a focus on channels affecting risk premiums, the maturities of nominal debt contracts, and redistribution of wealth. A general conclusion flowing from the analysis is that accounting for the revaluation of nominal debts and assets strengthens the relative merits of price-level targeting compared with inflation-targeting.

Date: 2009

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/review/spring09/crawford.pdf full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bca:bcarev:v:2009:y:2009:i:spring09:p:33-43

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Publications Distribution, Bank of Canada, 234 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G9, Canada
http://www.bank-banq ... ication/pub_res.html

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Bank of Canada Review from Bank of Canada
Address: 234 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G9, Canada
Series data maintained by ().