Macroeconomics Commons^™

We show that discretionary policy-making can lead to multiple rational-expectations equilibria where the central bank responds to inflation sentiments, which are not directly related to economic fundamentals. Some equilibria have favorable consequences for welfare, resulting in outcomes superior even to those achieved under timeless-perspective commitment. Moreover, we show that our framework can explain several moments of US data reasonably well. In particular, it provides an alternative explanation for the high degree of inflation persistence found in the data.