This paper reports estimates of monetary policy reaction functions for
two sets of countries: the G3 (Germany, Japan, and the US) and the E3
(UK, France, and Italy). We find that since 1979 each of the G3 centr
al banks has pursued an implicit form of inflation targeting, which ma
y account for the broad success of monetary policy in those countries
over this time period. The evidence also suggests that these central b
anks have been forward looking: they respond to anticipated inflation
as opposed to lagged inflation. As for the E3, even prior to the emerg
ence of the 'hard ERM', the E3 central banks were heavily influenced b
y German monetary policy. Further, using the Bundesbank's policy rule
as a benchmark, we find that at the time of the EMS collapse, interest
rates in each of the E3 countries were much higher than domestic macr
oeconomic conditions warranted. Taken all together, the results lend s
upport to the view that some form of inflation targeting may be superi
or to fixing exchange rates, as a means to gain a nominal anchor for m
onetary policy. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.