Monetary Policy and the Well-Being of the Poor

Christina Romer and David Romer

No 6793, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper investigates monetary policy's influence on poverty and inequality in both the short run and the long run. We find that the short-run and long-run relationships go in opposite directions. The time-series evidence from the United States shows that a cyclical boom created by expansionary monetary policy is associated with improved conditions for the poor in the short run. The cross-section evidence from a large sample of countries, however, shows that low inflation and stable aggregate demand growth are associated with improved well-being of the poor in the long run. Both the short-run and long-run relationships are quantitatively large, statistically significant, and robust. But because the cyclical effects of monetary policy are inherently temporary, we conclude that monetary policy that aims at low inflation and stable aggregate demand is the most likely to permanently improve conditions for the poor.

JEL-codes: E52 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998-11
Note: ME
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (105)

Published as Proceedings of a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City symposium: "Income Inequality Issues and Policy Options," Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 27-29, 1998, pp. 159-201
Published as Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, First Quarter 1999, pp. 21-49

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Journal Article: Monetary policy and the well-being of the poor (1999)
Journal Article: Monetary policy and the well-being of the poor (1998)
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