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Presidential Address: Does Monetary Policy Matter? The Narrative Approach after 35 Years

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  • Christina D. Romer
  • David H. Romer

Abstract

The narrative approach to macroeconomic identification uses qualitative sources, such as newspapers or government records, to provide information that can help establish causal relationships. This paper discusses the requirements for rigorous narrative analysis using fresh research on the impact of monetary policy as the focal application. We read the historical Minutes and Transcripts of Federal Reserve policymaking meetings to identify significant contractionary and expansionary changes in monetary policy not taken in response to current or prospective developments in real activity for the period 1946 to 2016. We find that such monetary shocks have large and significant effects on unemployment, output, and inflation in the expected directions. Analysis of available policy records suggests that a contractionary monetary shock likely occurred in 2022. Based on the empirical estimates of the effect of previous shocks, one would expect substantial negative impacts on real GDP and inflation in 2023 and 2024.

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  • Christina D. Romer & David H. Romer, 2023. "Presidential Address: Does Monetary Policy Matter? The Narrative Approach after 35 Years," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(6), pages 1395-1423, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:113:y:2023:i:6:p:1395-1423
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.113.6.1395
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. EllenE. Meade & David Stasavage, 2008. "Publicity of Debate and the Incentive to Dissent: Evidence from the US Federal Reserve," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 695-717, April.
    2. Stephen Hansen & Michael McMahon & Andrea Prat, 2018. "Transparency and Deliberation Within the FOMC: A Computational Linguistics Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 801-870.
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes Matschke & Sai Sattiraju, 2023. "To Reach the Fed’s Inflation Target, Interest Rates May Have to Remain Restrictive for Some Time," Economic Bulletin, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 1-4, June.
    2. Bernoth, Kerstin & Herwartz, Helmut & Trienens, Lasse, 2024. "Interest Rates, Convenience Yields and Inflation Expectations: Drivers of US Dollar Exchange Rates," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302351, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association, revised 2024.
    3. Matthias Fengler & Winfried Koeniger & Stephan Minger, 2024. "The Transmission of Monetary Policy to the Cost of Hedging," CESifo Working Paper Series 11556, CESifo.
    4. Jonas E. Arias & Juan F. Rubio-Ramirez & Minchul Shin & Daniel F. Waggoner, 2024. "Inference Based on Time-Varying SVARs Identified with Sign Restrictions," Working Papers 24-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Kristin Forbes & Jongrim Ha & M. Ayhan Kose, 2024. "Rate Cycles," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2402, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    6. Maximilian Grimm, 2024. "The Effect of Monetary Policy on Systemic Bank Funding Stability," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 341, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    7. John Cochrane, 2024. "Expectations and the Neutrality of Interest Rates," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 53, pages 194-223, July.
    8. Johannes Matschke & Alice von Ende-Becker, 2024. "Current Monetary Policy May Be Less Restrictive Than It Seems," Economic Bulletin, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 1-4, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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