The methodology for assessing interest-rate policy rules: a reply

Abstract

This note is a brief reply to Watts (2021), who has been critical of the conceptual foundations and methodology in a discussion of the impact of different interest rate policy rules on inflation in Smithin (2020). The reply concludes that the case for a ‘zero real policy rate of interest’ (ZRPR), rather than a ‘zero interest rate policy’ (ZIRP), emerges unscathed.