Innocent Bystanders? Monetary Policy and Inequality in the U.S

Olivier Coibion, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Lorenz Kueng and John Silvia
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John Silvia: Wells Fargo

No 6633, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the effects and historical contribution of monetary policy shocks to consumption and income inequality in the United States since 1980. Contractionary monetary policy actions systematically increase inequality in labor earnings, total income, consumption and total expenditures. Furthermore, monetary shocks can account for a significant component of the historical cyclical variation in income and consumption inequality. Using detailed micro-level data on income and consumption, we document the different channels via which monetary policy shocks affect inequality, as well as how these channels depend on the nature of the change in monetary policy.

Keywords: monetary policy; income inequality; consumption inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E3 E4 E5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-mac and nep-mon
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (103)

Published - published in: Journal of Monetary Economics, 2017, 88(C), 70-89.

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Related works:
Working Paper: Innocent Bystanders? Monetary Policy and Inequality in the U.S (2020)
Working Paper: Innocent Bystanders? Monetary Policy and Inequality in the U.S (2012)
Working Paper: Innocent Bystanders? Monetary Policy and Inequality in the U.S (2012)
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