---
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


## Fit pass for Journal of Monetary Economics

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the main macro object, the identifying variation, and the policy-relevant counterfactual; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: macro and monetary economists who expect the shock, mechanism, and policy margin to be visible early.

- **Do the pass:** Score the manuscript on venue fit, novelty, evidence readiness, and audience ownership; reject a prestige-only target when a sibling venue owns the contribution more directly.
- **Return a ledger:** give `claim / evidence / risk / manuscript location` rows, so the next agent can edit rather than rediscover the issue.
- **Sibling guard:** compare against JIE for open-economy trade/finance emphasis, RED for dynamic macro theory, AEJ Macro for broader field positioning; if a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
- **Stop condition:** do not give submission-ready advice until the pack's `resources/official-source-map.md` has been checked for volatile rules and the manuscript has one concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.

## 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
```