Common Currencies vs. Monetary Independence
(joint with Thomas Cooley)
We study the optimal monetary policy in a two-country open-economy
model under two monetary arrangements: (a) multiple currencies controlled
by independent policy makers; (b) common currencies with a centralized policy
maker.
Our findings suggest that: (i) Monetary policy competition leads to higher
long-term inflation and interest rates with large welfare losses; (ii) The
inflation bias and the consequent losses are larger when countries are unable
to commit to future policies; (iii) the welfare losses from higher long-term
inflation dominates the welfare costs of losing the ability to react optimally
to shocks. Therefore, the coordination of policies implicit in the adoption
of a common currency has positive welfare consequences.