# Jme Topic Selection > 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. - Skill: `thedixitjain/jme-topic-selection` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add thedixitjain/jme-topic-selection` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/thedixitjain/jme-topic-selection/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: thedixitjain (https://skillmd.com/u/thedixitjain) - Updated: 2026-09-08 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/thedixitjain/jme-topic-selection --- # 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 ## Worked fit calls - **Borderline, rescuable.** Firm-level pass-through of funding costs to lending rates is micro-banking as posed. It becomes JME-shaped once the estimates feed an aggregation step — e.g., the cross-sectional heterogeneity implies a state-dependent transmission of a 100-bp policy surprise, with the counterfactual computed for the aggregate lending channel. - **Strong fit.** A HANK-style model in which the distribution of marginal propensities to consume determines how far forward guidance substitutes for conventional rate cuts: a disciplined quantitative mechanism with a lesson a central bank can act on. - **Off-fit unless re-anchored.** An asset-pricing anomaly with no monetary mechanism belongs in a finance journal; the same data speak to JME if the object becomes the term-premium channel of balance-sheet policy or the transmission of policy surprises through intermediary constraints. **Editor screen (three questions before writing a model):** Would a central bank research department cite this? Does the answer move a policy counterfactual — a rule comparison, a transmission elasticity, an optimal-response margin? Is the shock or mechanism first-order at business-cycle frequency, rather than a second-decimal refinement? ## 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 ``` --- **Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `Journal-of-Monetary-Economics-Skills/skills/jme-topic-selection/SKILL.md`