TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mankiw,N. Gregory
AU  - Miron,Jeffrey A.
TI  - Should The Fed Smooth Interest Rates?  The Case of Seasonal Monetary Policy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3388
PY  - 1991
Y2  - October 1991
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3388
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3388.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
N. Gregory Mankiw
Department of Economics
Littauer 223
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-4301
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: ngmankiw@fas.harvard.edu

Jeffrey A. Miron
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 781/856-0086
Fax: 617/495-8570
E-Mail: miron@fas.harvard.edu
AB  - This paper examines the choice of monetary policy in response to seasonal fluctuations in the economy. It discusses the costs and benefits of smoothing interest rates over the seasons, which has been the Fed's policy since its founding in 1914, and presents simulations suggesting how the economy would behave under the alternative policy of stabilizing the money stock. Finally, it presents evidence that the smoothing of interest rates in 1914 changed the seasonal business cycle. 
ER  -