Central Banks Empowered to Curb Inflation Through Transparent Targets
Central banks often announce their inflation targets, even though they might have a reason to lie. This study looks at how inflation targeting affects a central bank's incentives when it has private information about the economy and the public is unsure about its preferences. Inflation targeting reduces the inflation bias of discretion but changes how the central bank responds to its private information. The study found that when the central bank can announce its own inflation target, this distortion is eliminated.