Rational Expectations and Inflation

Thomas J. Sargent is professor of economics at New York University. His books include Robustness and The Big Problem of Small Change (both Princeton). He was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in economics.

Thomas J. Sargent, Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics "In Rational Expectations and Inflation, Sargent provides a consistent way to think about the relationship between a government and its central bank... [I]t is the best exposition of what monetary policy is all about, at this mostly nontechnical level, of which I know... Rational Expectations and Inflation on the whole remains fresh, stimulating and informative."--Edward J. Green, The Region "Sargent's interpretation of the hyperinflations is not new. What is new and important is his explicit use of the terminology and constructs of the theory of rational expectations. That terminology and those constructs clearly offer an illuminating way to analyze these complex events... Whether you agree or disagree with Sargent's interpretation of specific historical episodes, you will get a better understanding of both the theory of rational expectations and the interrelations of monetary and fiscal policy from this imaginative, analytically subtle, and lucidly written book."--Milton Friedman, Journal of Political Economy

• *Frontmatter, pg. a*Contents, pg. vii*List of Figures, pg. xi*List of Tables, pg. xiii*Acknowledgements, pg. xv*Preface to the Third Edition, pg. xvii*Preface to the Second Edition, pg. xix*Preface to the First Edition, pg. xxi*1. Rational Expectations and the Reconstruction of Macroeconomics, pg. 1*2. Reaganomics and Credibility, pg. 17*3. The Ends of Four Big Inflations, pg. 38*4. Stopping Moderate Inflations: The Methods of Poincare and Thatcher, pg. 111*5. Some Unpleasant Monetarist Arithmetic, pg. 162*6. Interpreting the Reagan Deficits, pg. 197*7. Speculations about the Speculation against the Hong Kong Dollar, pg. 211*8. Six Essays in Persuasion, pg. 228*9. Macroeconomic Features of the French Revolution, pg. 248*10. United States Then, Europe Now, pg. 297*References, pg. 339*Author Index, pg. 357*Subject Index, pg. 361