Correctly specified,
an explicit inflation target with operational independence seemed to solve this problem.
In other words, if you keep blaming «transitory» factors for missing
your explicit inflation target year after year after year, eventually even your fellow Economists are going to suspect something's up.
For those of us who use
explicit inflation targets, for example, there would be a need to focus on a longer time horizon and perhaps somewhat greater toleration of short run deviations from the medium - term target.
Explicit inflation targets also helped in another way.
Not exact matches
In that regard, it is worth noting that the three major economic areas, none of which have an
explicit inflation -
targeting framework have suffered at least as large an economic dislocation as the
inflation -
targeting countries, and in the case of Japan, considerably larger.
From the inception of the
inflation -
targeting regime, the press releases have made
explicit reference to the
inflation target as the primary justification for the monetary policy decision.
For
inflation targeting countries, it would certainly be a retrograde step in my view to be perceived as walking away from a framework which has for a decade delivered good results, in favour of some
explicit pursuit of asset prices per se.
For example, in December the Federal Reserve announced
explicit targets for unemployment and
inflation.