On Consequences and Criticisms of Monetary Targeting

The purpose of this paper is to review and evaluate the most important existing criticisms of policy strategies that feature adherence to money stock targets. Four main categories of criticism (and counterargumerits) are analyzed. The first of these involves the claim that accurate money stock control is infeasible while the second contends that such control can only be obtained along with extreme volatility of interest rates. The third emphasizes difficulties resulting from technical change and deregulation, and the fourth concerns strategic issues of rules vs. discretion, activist vs. non-activist policy, and the logical function of intermediate targets.