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Should Low Inflation Be The Primary Objective of Economic Policy
Should Low Inflation Be The Primary Objective of Economic Policy
economic policy?
The UK government has given the Bank of England an inflation target of CPI 2 %
+/-1. The Bank of England is responsible for using monetary policy (e.g. interest
rates) to achieve this goal of low inflation. But, as well as targeting inflation, the
Bank of England also has a wider remit of considering objectives such as
economic growth.
During 2008 and 2010 the UK had inflation above the target as Bank of England
were more concerned about recession
Since the spikes in inflation during the 1970s and 1980s, many economies have
prioritised low inflation as the primary objective of monetary and economic policy.
Low inflation has many benefits for an economy; it is seen as a building block for
stability and encouraging investment. The hope is that by keeping inflation low,
the economy will avoid ‘boom and bust’ economic cycles and provide a
framework for economic stability and prosperity. If inflation gets out of hand, the
economy will experience various costs of uncertainty, menu costs and loss of
international competitiveness.
However, since the crisis of 2008, some economists have become increasingly
critical of monetary/economic policy which targets low inflation and ignores other
economic objectives such as full employment and economic growth. Critics argue
that inflation targets can become too rigid, and recently (especially in Europe) the
goal of low inflation has caused unnecessarily high unemployment and a
prolonged recession.
Reasons why low inflation is a primary macroeconomic objective
There are many benefits of low inflation. Firstly, if inflation is low and stable, firms
will be more confident and optimistic to invest; this will lead to an increase in
productive capacity and enable higher rates of economic growth in the future.
Monetarists believe that inflation can be reduced without conflicting with other
macroeconomic objectives. This is because they believe that the LRAS in
inelastic, therefore a fall in AD will only cause a temporary fall in Real GDP and
after a short period the economy will return to the full employment level of
National Output. Therefore the govt should not worry about a temporary rise in
unemployment as a result of tight monetary policy because the economy will
soon return to equilibrium.
However, this view is not shared by all economists. Keynesians argue that if the
economy can be below full capacity for a long time. To keep inflation within its
target, it may be necessary to have a significant tightening of monetary policy
which could cause a recession and persistent unemployment.
The above diagram shows a fall in inflation as a result of higher interest rates;
however, it has caused a fall in AD and lower Real GDP. Keynesians argue that
the economy may take a long time to recover because the negative multiplier
effect will magnify any fall in AD. Also if confidence is low consumers may be
reluctant to spend.
However, in some circumstances keeping inflation low may be unsuitable for the
economy. If there was a supply-side shock to the economy, keeping to the
inflation target may cause increased unemployment and lower growth which is
undesirable. Also, although low inflation can have many benefits, we shouldn’t
ignore other objectives, such as economic growth and unemployment. It makes
no sense to stick rigidly to low inflation when there is an unemployment crisis.
Inflation is an important objective, but it isn’t the only one.