BIS Review 68/2010  3  Figure 3 Different measures of resource utilisation Per cent 6  6  4  4  2  2  0  0  -2  -2 -4  -4 The Riksbank, April -10 NIER, M arch -10 European Commission, M ay -09 OECD, November -09 IM F, April -10 M inistry of Finance, April -10  -6 -8 -10 00  02  04  06  -6 -8 -10 08  10  12  14  Monetary policy has contributed to increased macroeconomic stability The trend towards inflation targeting, or policies resembling inflation targeting, and increased openness and clarity has had positive results. In Sweden and other countries affected by high and fluctuating inflation during the 1970s and 1980s, inflation has become lower and more stable. Similarly, inflation expectations have been significantly better anchored than before (Figure 4). In these cases, I believe that countries with explicit, quantified inflation targets have had a particular advantage. These days, actual inflation can differ quite considerably from the inflation target, for example due to temporary increases in energy prices, without households and companies finding it particularly alarming. They rely on the Riksbank to return inflation to target within a couple of years.
We have done so more or less right from the very start, even if, when the inflation-targeting regime was new, there was particular reason to emphasise that low and stable inflation should be prioritised. However, in the present framework, the considerations that we actually make as regards both inflation and the real economy have become more apparent. However, a number of problems still remain. For example, it is not obvious which measure of the real economy monetary policy is to stabilise nor how best to calculate the trend to be stabilised around. Quite different estimates can be made, not only in terms of the present and the future, but also of past events (Figure 3). However, it remains clear that intellectual progress has been made and that developments have moved forwards. So far, relatively few central banks have gone so far as to publish forecasts of their policy rates, as the Riksbank does. But it is clear that the manner in which monetary policy is conducted has developed in most parts of the world and is presently more open and clear than was the case fifteen to twenty years ago.