An Examination of Aggregate Price Uncertainty in Four Countries and SomeImplications for Real Output

Abstract

This stu dy constructs measures of aggregate price uncertainty for four countries (Canada , West Germany, Great Britain, and the United States) and examines the relationship across countries and through time between the inflation rate, inflation variability, and measures of price uncertainty. The results suggest that: the higher and more variable inflation of the 1970s increased uncertainty about the aggregate price level in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, but not West Ge rmany; and there was a significant negative output effect of aggregate price uncertainty for Canada and the United Kingdom, but not for the United States or West Germany. Copyright 1987 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.