Ad-hoc discretionary policy is structurally appealing to policymakers because announcing a general rule limits flexibility and ties their hands, putting them in positions where their rules require saying no when they want to say yes; this is why rules-based approaches (monetary rules, constitutions) are valuable but politically hard to maintain.

normativepending

Speaker

John Taylor

Evidence Quote

if you're bearing the responsibility for that policymaker ad hocs really appealing right announcing a policy that you might set of general rule side limits your flexibility and ties your hands and therefore you're likely to be in a situation where you're gonna want to say yes when you're gonna have to say no by your rules so better say ad hoc

Source

John Taylor on the Financial Crisis 07/20/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:20:12 AM

My Notes

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