In a previous post, I argued that Paul Volcker didn’t put a stop to inflation by having the Fed systematically increase interest rates when commodity prices rose, and lower them when commodity prices fell. While commodity-price targeting, aka a “price rule” for monetary policy, had some prominent proponents back in the 1980s, neither Volcker nor any other Fed chair embraced the idea. Today’s post has to do with two things that I didn’t say in that earlier one. I didn’t say that commodity price movements played no part at all in the Fed’s decision-making. And I didn’t say whether they should or shouldn’t play any part ... (full story)