Heterogeneity, Determinacy, and New Keynesian PuzzlesI
Florin O. BilbiieII August 2018III
Abstract Using an analytical HANK model, I find the closed-form conditions for determinacy with interest-rate rules and for curing New Keynesian puzzles. The latter requires (self-insurance against) idiosyncratic uncertainty and that constrained agents’ income elasticity to aggre- gate income be smaller than one. When larger than one, good news on aggregate demand gets compounded, making determinacy less likely and aggravating the puzzles–a Catch-22, because this is when HANK models deliver desirable amplification. A Wicksellian rule of price-level targeting solves this, ensuring determinacy and curing the puzzles even in the amplification region of HANK (including in extensions with cyclical risk). JEL Codes: E21, E31, E40, E44, E50, E52, E58, E60, E62 Keywords: heterogenous agents; HANK; monetary policy; forward guidance puzzle; neo- Fisherian effects; Taylor and Wicksellian rules; determinacy; liquidity traps; multipliers.
II am grateful to Sushant Acharya, Jess Benhabib, Edouard Challe, John Cochrane, Daniel Cohen, Davide
Debortoli, Keshav Dogra, Axelle Ferrière, Xavier Gabaix, Gaetano Gaballo, Jordi Galí, Roger Guesnerie, Keith Kuester, Eric Leeper, Olivier Loisel, Alistair Macaulay, Virgiliu Midrigan, Benjamin Moll, Emi Nakamura, Salvatore Nistico, Xavier Ragot, Kenneth Rogoff, Gilles Saint-Paul, Emiliano Santoro, Christopher Sims, Jon Steinsson, Paolo Surico, Roman Sustek, Gianluca Violante, Mirko Wiederholt, Michael Woodford, and participants in several seminars and conferences for useful comments. I gratefully acknowledge without implicating the support of Banque de France via the eponymous Chair at PSE, and of Institut Universitaire de France, as well as the hospitality of New York University and CREI during part of writing this paper.
IIUniversity of Lausanne and CEPR; florin.bilbiie@gmail.com. http://florin.bilbiie.googlepages.com. IIIThis paper supersedes the December 2017 "A Catch-22 for HANK Models: No Puzzles, No Amplification",
and the previous "The Puzzle, the Power, and the Dark Side: Forward Guidance Redux" that contained an earlier version of a restricted subset of the material.