Inflation targeting: a child of our time?

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The first country to formally adopt inflation targeting was New Zealand in December 1989, as shown in Figure 1. Canada, the UK, Australia, Sweden and Finland followed closely behind, with the US being the most recent addition to the list in January 2012. Approximately 30 central banks are viewed as fully-fledged inflation targeters; several others are in the process of establishing a full inflation-targeting regime; while others, t