Jme Topic Selection

---
name: jme-topic-selection
description: Use when assessing whether a research question fits the Journal of Monetary Economics (JME) — monetary theory and policy, central banking, business cycles, growth, financial intermediation, fiscal interactions, and expectations — before investing in a model or estimation. Checks scope fit and the policy/conceptual payoff bar.
---

# Topic Selection & Scope Fit (jme-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have a macro idea but are unsure it is "monetary enough" for JME
- The question is technically interesting but its macro or policy payoff is unclear
- You are choosing between a generalist top journal and a field outlet
- You want to target the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU policy issue or the Gerzensee macro-policy issue

## The JME scope

JME publishes **monetary economics and macroeconomics broadly defined**: monetary theory and policy, central banking, business cycles, growth, financial markets and intermediation, fiscal–monetary interactions, expectations, and the macroeconomic effects of money and finance. It welcomes **both theoretical and empirical work**, including DSGE / quantitative macro and applied policy analysis. A good JME paper is not a narrow micro-empirical estimate dressed in macro language; it speaks to how money, finance, and policy shape aggregate outcomes.

Two scope tells make JME distinctive. First, **one issue each year is devoted to the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference Series on Public Policy** — a defining feature signaling JME's appetite for serious monetary/fiscal policy questions — and roughly every two years an additional issue carries proceedings from the **Swiss National Bank Study Center Gerzensee** macro-policy conference. Second, the journal is equally hospitable to a clean **quantitative model** (e.g., a DSGE or HANK mechanism) and to a credible **empirical** study (e.g., the effects of an identified monetary shock).

## Fit checklist

- [ ] The dependent question is about **aggregate** behavior, money/finance, or policy — not a self-contained micro effect
- [ ] There is a clear **monetary, macro, or policy lesson** a central banker or macroeconomist would care about
- [ ] The paper is either a disciplined **quantitative model** or a **credibly identified** empirical study (ideally both)
- [ ] The question is **first-order**, not a marginal refinement of a settled result
- [ ] If policy-conference-flavored, consider the **Carnegie-Rochester-NYU** or **Gerzensee** fit

## Off-fit signals (redirect)

- A pure labor/IO/development micro paper with no macro aggregation → a field or generalist journal
- A new estimator with no monetary/macro application → *Econometrica* / *Journal of Econometrics*
- A finance-asset-pricing paper with no monetary or macro mechanism → a finance journal
- A descriptive data paper with no conceptual or policy payoff → reconsider the contribution

## Output format

```
【Question】one sentence (aggregate/monetary/policy?)
【Mode】theoretical / quantitative-DSGE / empirical / mixed
【JME fit】strong / borderline / off-fit + why
【Policy lesson】the macro takeaway in one line
【Special issue?】Carnegie-Rochester-NYU / Gerzensee / regular
【Next step】jme-literature-positioning
```