Unconventional monetary policy and wealth inequality: evidence from the US

Thomas Gries, Lukas Wiechers () and Sebastian Luna-Victoria ()
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Lukas Wiechers: Paderborn University
Sebastian Luna-Victoria: Paderborn University

Economics Bulletin, 2023, vol. 43, issue 4, 1865 - 1874

Abstract: We analyze the effect of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) on the distribution of wealth in the United States between 2007 and mid-2022. We find that UMP increases the net wealth of the upper percentiles relative to the bottom 50% percentile. However, UMP is estimated to affect the wealthiest's overall asset holdings less than their net wealth, highlighting the importance of future research into the liability side. On the asset side UMP induces a significant portfolio rebalancing. The wealthiest's relative gain is not restricted solely to holdings in equities and funds, but also to holdings in real estate and pension entitlements.

Keywords: Inequality; Unconventional Monetary Policy; Wealth Distribution; Quantitative Easing; Vector Autoregression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 E5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-12-30
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