Monetary Policy in the Large Open Economy

This paper discusses recent evidence on the imperfect international substitutability of goods and assets and the implications for conduct of monetary policy in a major industrial country. A simple model is developed for analysis of the simultaneous determination of money growth and the balance of payments under pegged exchange rates. Parallels are drawn to the importance of expected depreciation in determination of floating exchange rates. An assessment is made of the extent to which a central bank can simultaneously pursue both exchange rate and money supply goals through sterilized intervention. The paper concludes with the role of saving rate differences in determining nonzero equilibrium trade balances.