scholarly journals Fiscal Volatility Shocks and Economic Activity

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (11) ◽  
pp. 3352-3384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde ◽  
Pablo Guerrón-Quintana ◽  
Keith Kuester ◽  
Juan Rubio-Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
The Us ◽  
Previous Step

We study how unexpected changes in uncertainty about fiscal policy affect economic activity. First, we estimate tax and spending processes for the United States with time-varying volatility to uncover evidence of time-varying volatility. Second, we estimate a VAR for the US economy using the time-varying volatility found in the previous step. Third, we feed the tax and spending processes into an otherwise standard New Keynesian model. Both in the VAR and in the model, we find that unexpected changes in fiscal volatility shocks can have a sizable adverse effect on economic activity. An endogenous increase in markups is a key mechanism. (JEL E12, E23, E32, E52, E62)

scholarly journals SECTORAL LABOR MOBILITY AND OPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Alessandro Cantelmo ◽  
Giovanni Melina
Keyword(s):  
Labor Mobility ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Optimal Monetary Policy ◽  
Relative Prices ◽  
Optimal Weights ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Inflation Rates ◽  
The Us

How should central banks optimally aggregate sectoral inflation rates in the presence of imperfect labor mobility across sectors? We study this issue in a two-sector New-Keynesian model and show that a lower degree of sectoral labor mobility, ceteris paribus, increases the optimal weight on inflation in a sector that would otherwise receive a lower weight. We analytically and numerically find that, with limited labor mobility, adjustment to asymmetric shocks cannot fully occur through the reallocation of labor, thus putting more pressure on wages, causing inefficient movements in relative prices, and creating scope for central bank’ s intervention. These findings challenge standard central banks’ practice of computing sectoral inflation weights based solely on sector size and unveil a significant role for the degree of sectoral labor mobility to play in the optimal computation. In an extended estimated model of the US economy, featuring customary frictions and shocks, the estimated inflation weights imply a decrease in welfare up to 10% relative to the case of optimal weights.

scholarly journals The effect of central bank credibility on forward guidance in an estimated New Keynesian model

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Cole ◽  
Enrique Martínez-García
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Rational Expectations ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Survey Of Professional Forecasters ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
The Us ◽  
Imperfect Credibility ◽  
Central Bank Credibility

Abstract This paper examines the effectiveness of forward guidance shocks in the US. We estimate a New Keynesian model with imperfect central bank credibility and heterogeneous expectations using Bayesian methods and survey data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF). The results provide important takeaways: (1) The estimated credibility of the Fed’s forward guidance announcements is relatively high, but anticipation effects are attenuated. Accordingly, output and inflation do not respond as favorably as in the fully credible counterfactual. (2) The so-called “forward guidance puzzle” arises partly from the unrealistically large responses of macroeconomic variables to forward guidance under perfect credibility and homogeneous fully informed rational expectations, assumptions which are found to be jointly inconsistent with the observed US data. (3) Imperfect credibility provides a plausible explanation for the empirical evidence of forecasting error predictability based on forecasting disagreement found in the SPF data. Thus, we show that accounting for imperfect credibility and forecasting disagreements is important to understand the formation of expectations and the transmission mechanism of forward guidance.

Optimal Inflation for the US Economy

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto M Billi
Keyword(s):  
Inflation Rate ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Government

This paper studies the optimal long-run inflation rate (OIR) in a small New Keynesian model, where the only policy instrument is a short-term nominal interest rate that may occasionally run against a zero lower bound (ZLB). The model allows for worst-case scenarios of misspecification. The analysis shows first, if the government optimally commits, the OIR is below 1 percent annually. Second, if the government re-optimizes each period, the OIR rises markedly to 17 percent. Third, if the government commits only to an inertial Taylor rule, the inflation bias is eliminated at very low cost in terms of welfare for the representative household. (JEL E12, E31, E43, E52, E58)

scholarly journals Forward Guidance and Heterogeneous Beliefs

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Andrade ◽  
Gaetano Gaballo ◽  
Eric Mengus ◽  
Benoît Mojon
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
Heterogeneous Beliefs ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Survey Of Professional Forecasters ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Guidance Policy ◽  
The Cost

Central banks’ announcements that rates are expected to remain low could signal either a weak macroeconomic outlook, which would slow expenditures, or a more accommodative stance, which may stimulate economic activity. We use the Survey of Professional Forecasters to show that, when the Fed gave guidance between 2011:III and 2012:IV, these two interpretations coexisted despite a consensus on low expected rates. We rationalize these facts in a New-Keynesian model where heterogeneous beliefs introduce a trade-off in forward guidance policy: leveraging on the optimism of those who believe in monetary easing comes at the cost of inducing excess pessimism in non-believers. (JEL D83, E12, E43, E52, E58, E65)

scholarly journals Inflation-Gap Persistence in the US

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Cogley ◽  
Giorgio E. Primiceri ◽  
Thomas J. Sargent
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Volatility ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Vector Autoregressions ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Trend Inflation ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Difference

We estimate vector autoregressions with drifting coefficients and stochastic volatility to investigate whether US inflation persistence has changed. We focus on the inflation gap, defined as the difference between inflation and trend inflation, and we measure persistence in terms of short- to medium-term predictability. We present evidence that inflation-gap persistence increased during the Great Inflation and that it fell after the Volcker disinflation. We interpret these changes using a dynamic new Keynesian model that highlights the importance of changes in the central bank's inflation target. (JEL E12, E31, E52, E58)

Is risk shock a key factor driving business cycles in China?

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Li ◽  
Shuixing Luo
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Macroeconomic Policies ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
The Us ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Investment Capital ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper studies the impact of risk shock on the Chinese economy using a New-Keynesian model with financial frictions. The study shows that risk shock is an important driving force for the fluctuations of GDP, investment, capital, credit, and credit spread in China. However, the role of risk shock in driving China’s business cycles is not as crucial as in the US economy (see Christiano, Motto, and Rostagno 2014). There are three main reasons that explain the different performance of risk shocks in China and the US: the volatility of risk shock, the effect of equity shock, and the influence of macroeconomic policies are all different in China and in the US. Our paper contributes to an understanding of the business cycles in China during the period from 1999 to 2015, particularly in comparison with business cycles in the US.

scholarly journals Ambiguity, Monetary Policy, and Trend Inflation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo M Masolo ◽  
Francesca Monti
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Inflation Expectations ◽  
New Keynesian Model ◽  
Inflation Target ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Trend Inflation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Blue Chip

ABSTRACT Allowing for ambiguity about the behavior of the policymaker in a simple New-Keynesian model gives rise to wedges between long-run inflation expectations, trend inflation, and the inflation target. The degree of ambiguity we measure in Blue Chip survey data helps explain the dynamics of long-run inflation expectations and the inflation trend measured in the US data. Ambiguity also has implications for monetary policy. We show that it is optimal for policymakers to lean against the households’ pessimistic expectations, but also document the limits to the extent the adverse effects of ambiguity can be undone.

Military Subsidization of Human Capital and Gender Stratification in the US Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342098262
Author(s):  
Tyler Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Gender Stratification ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
The Military

In the United States, the military is the primary channel through which many are able to obtain supports traditionally provided by the welfare state, such as access to higher education, job training, employment, health care, and so on. However, due to the nature of the military as a highly gendered institution, these social welfare functions are not as accessible for women as they are for men. This amounts to a highly gender-biased state spending pattern that subsidizes substantially more human capital development for men than for women, effectively reinforcing women’s subordinate status in the US economy. JEL classification: B54, B52, Z13

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document