Indicatori aggregati e settoriali della politica monetaria (Sectoral and aggregate indicators of monetary policy)

Abstract

The recent debate on the management of monetary policy in Italy has paced attention on the problems of the meaning and use of synthetic indicators of monetary conditions. The present work seeks to clarify the logical relationships between the real "indicators" of monetary policy and other monetary magnitudes within the framework of the usual frame of reference instruments-goals intermediate-goals. On the basis of this analysis the authors examine the characteristics and significance of some aggregate monetary indicators currently used in Italy. Particular emphasis is placed on the cognitive limits of the aggregate indicators, which offer the notable advantage of synthetic and timely information, but if "read" in isolation, can sometimes lead to error. They then propose integrating the economic analysis based on aggregate indicators with the systematic use of sectoral indicators derived from the Financial Accounts of the Bank of Italy .