Deviations from the Taylor rule in the mid-2000s
While the Taylor rule usually provides a good description of how U.S. monetary policy is conducted, there can be sizable deviations at times. During the mid-2000s, in particular, Fed policy arguably deviated from the Taylor rule. From August 2003 to May 2004, the Fed kept a constant target of 1% for the federal funds rate and resorted to “forward guidance,” communicating that the target rate was expected to be maintained at this level for a “considerable period.” In June 2004, the Fed began to remove monetary policy accommodation at a pace it said was “likely to be measured,” and raised its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (Federal Reserve Board 2003, 2004). The indication that the pace of monetary tightening would likely be measured and the 25-basis-point increases in its policy target continued until the end of 2005.
To test whether households perceived any change in the conduct of monetary policy at that time, we check whether our estimated relationships using the Michigan survey data also changed. For this, we focus on higher income households and pool results by year of the interview. If household answers reflect their perceptions of monetary policy, their responses should change during periods of deviation from a Taylor rule.