Financial stability: A worthy goal, but how feasible?

Financial stability has proved elusive. Despite the success of central banks in controlling inflation, economies continue to experience periods of exchange rate overvaluation, stock market volatility and housing price bubbles that affect individuals very deeply. This note speculates that such financial volatility may be the product of three factors, (a) successful inflation targeting, (b) the existence of nonlinearities and differential economic dynamics, and (c) the recent evolution of key structural parameters in the economy. If so, then central banks might better focus on making financial systems more resilient than on trying to develop more sophisticated policies aimed at reducing financial volatility.