The Effect of Real and Monetary Disturbances on the Price Level under Alternative Commodity Reserve Standards
比较了三种保护货币价值的方法：纯相机决策、规则约束和商品储备标准，指出商品储备标准要求央行被动而非主动实现价格稳定。
The extent to which the value of money should be protected against changes in the price level and methods to protect the value of money are issues which have concerned economists since at least the 1790's. The methods which have been advocated to protect the value of money can broadly be divided into three categories. The first contains proposals which call for a purely discretionary monetary authority. It is obvious that a purely discretionary monetary authority can provide perfect price level stability. However, perfect knowledge as well as the means and willingness to implement monetary policy are required to achieve the desired result. Because the requirements for a discretionary monetary authority to achieve price level stability are extremely stringent and unlikely to be fulfilled in reality, a second category of proposals to achieve price level stability has been advanced. These proposals call for the central monetary authority to behave according to a prescribed rule or set of rules. The constant price level money rules advocated by Irving Fisher [1920], Lloyd Mints [1950], and Henry Simons [1948] are one example of this type of proposal. The constant money growth rule advocated by Milton Friedman [1960] is a second example. A common feature of both authority with pure discretion and authority with rules is that they require that the central monetary authority act in order to achieve the desired result. The monetary authority must take some action with respect to the money supply whenever the price level deviates from the desired level. (In the case of Friedman's constant money growth rule the central authority must increase the money supply at a certain percentage per year.) The third category of proposals for protecting the value of money are those for a commodity reserve standard. The gold standard and C. 0. Hardy's famous brick standard2 are examples of commodity reserve standards with only a single commodity. Bimetallism and the Commodity Reserve Currency proposed by Benjamin Graham [1937] and others are examples of commodity reserve standards with two or more commodities. Commodity reserve standards differ from authority with pure discretion and authority with rules in one very important regard. They assign the monetary authority a passive rather than an active role in the achievement of price stability.