Why a 5% NGDP target will provide investors with the next asset bubble to ride

Most investors got caught out by the last monetary policy fad by using the level of inflation as a proxy for asset price sustainability and lost a great deal of money. As a result many economists have become critical of the utility of inflation targeting. But will the next big idea be any different? The next big thing in monetary economics may well be for central banks to target nominal GDP. Unfortunately “the next big thing” in monetary economics does not have a very good track record.