The framework has simplicity in terms of an easily communicated objective, at the same time as having flexibility in the interpretation of information and operation of the policy instrument -- a combination of characteristics that Mishkin refers to as “constrained discretion”.
While the essential characteristics of inflation targets are common to all the practitioners, there are some interesting variations across countries in the detailed design features. These involve characteristics like the target mid-point, the width of fluctuation bands and the timeframe for evaluating performance.