McCallum´s rule in the Czech Republic

This thesis examines whether the McCallum´s rule, which targets nominal GDP using the monetary base as its instrument, would be more successful in achieving the goal of smoother path of nominal GDP with inflation staying on target, had it been in place of the actual historical monetary policy in the Czech Republic. To assess the performance of McCallum´s rule, I calculate simulated paths for nominal GDP and money base, using counterfactual simulation method. The results suggest that, compared to the historical monetary policy, the rule would not be able to secure a smoother path of nominal GDP and would bring only a slight improvement in the central bank´s ability to keep average inflation on its target. These results are not convincing enough to support a decision in favor of replacing the current regime of inflation targeting with nominal GDP targeting regime based on McCallum´s rule. Even so, it would be possible to use the rule under the current regime as a benchmark or a monitoring tool for assessing the stance of monetary policy.