Monetary Policy Rules with Financial Instability

To provide a rigorous analysis of monetary policy in the face of financial instability, we extend the standard dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to include a financial system. Our simulations suggest that if financial stability affects output and inflation with a lag, and if the central bank has privileged information about financial stability, then monetary policy responding instantly to deteriorating financial stability can trade off more output and inflation instability today for a faster return to the trend than a policy that follows the traditional Taylor rule. This augmented rule leads in some parameterizations to improved outcomes in terms of long-term welfare, but the welfare impacts of such a rule are small.