A July 22 analysis from Morgan Stanley looked at various problems with inflation targeting, including the failure to incorporate changes in asset prices in the inflation calculation.

On July 21, the Federal Reserve delivered its semiannual report to Congress on monetary policy.

A July 9 report from JPMorgan Chase examined the Federal Reserve’s options for further monetary stimulus. It finds that the Fed does not have the legal power to do some of the things being suggested.

In a July 7 post, University of Wisconsin economist Menzie Chinn examined various indicators of inflationary expectations and found all of them pointing to very low inflation in the near future.

In a July 2 commentary, University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan argued that the Fed’s policy of maintaining near-zero interest rates may be self-defeating by discouraging a reallocation of resources within the economy.

In a July commentary, economist John Makin warned about the threat of deflation (a falling price level). Economist Paul Krugman commented on Makin’s paper on July 11.

A July working paper from the Bank of England examined its policy of quantitative easing and found it to be effective.

A July NBER working paper by economists Rong Qian, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff finds that the effects of debt, banking and inflation crises typically last for decades after their formal end.

Also in July, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff study examined the so-called shadow banking system—financial institutions that cannot borrow from the Federal Reserve and have no government guarantees on their credit. These institutions have grown significantly since the 1980s and they were a major source of strain on the financial system during the recent crisis.

On June 28, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland released new data on the expected rate of inflation. Based on various factors such as the rate of inflation implied by rates on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), it estimates that the public currently expects an annual inflation rate of just 1.84 percent over the next 10 years.

In an article in the June issue of the American Economic Review, economists Christian Broda and David E. Weinstein estimate that the Consumer Price Index overstates inflation by 0.8 percent per year. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta economist Mike Bryan commented on July 9.

In a March Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago paper, economists Ruth Judson and Richard Porter estimate the amount of counterfeit dollars in circulation. They find that the amount is quite small—less than $1 for every $10,000 of currency in circulation—and virtually all of it is in the form of $100 bills; almost none in the form of $20 bills, those most commonly used by consumers.

Note: I previously posted items on this topic on June 29.

Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Read his most recent column here. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).