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Monetary policy and inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Dossche, Maarten
  • Slacalek, Jiri
  • Wolswijk, Guido

Abstract

This article reviews recent evidence on the interaction between monetary policy and household inequality. While economic inequality has been trending upwards in most advanced economies since the early 1980s, this analysis concludes that monetary policy has not been a major driver of those long-term trends. On the contrary, the accommodative monetary policies of recent years have had an equalising effect, particularly through employment gains for lower income households. Moreover, there is now more evidence showing that the distribution of income and wealth plays a key role in the transmission of monetary policy to household spending. However, while improvements to models and data have contributed to a better understanding of the ways in which household heterogeneity shapes the transmission of monetary policy, several unsolved puzzles remain, necessitating further research efforts. JEL Classification: D3, E21, E52

Suggested Citation

  • Dossche, Maarten & Slacalek, Jiri & Wolswijk, Guido, 2021. "Monetary policy and inequality," Economic Bulletin Articles, European Central Bank, vol. 2.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbart:2021:0002:1
    Note: 3577821
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    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/economic-bulletin/articles/2021/html/ecb.ebart202102_01~1773181511.en.html
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Caselli Mauro & Somekh Babak, 2021. "Access to Banking and the Role of Inequality and the Financial Crisis," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(4), pages 1373-1410, October.
    2. Demary, Markus & Niehues, Judith & Stockhausen, Maximilian & Zdrzalek, Jonas, 2021. "Der Einfluss der EZB-Geldpolitik auf die Vermögensverteilung in Deutschland," Studien, Stiftung Familienunternehmen / Foundation for Family Businesses, number 250019.
    3. Heinemann, Friedrich & Kemper, Jan, 2022. "Inflation of objectives instead of focus on inflation? Evidence on the ECB objective function from a textual analysis," ZEW Expert Briefs 22-07, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Jens van ‘t Klooster & Nik de Boer, 2023. "What to Do with the ECB's Secondary Mandate," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 730-746, May.
    5. Mäki-Fränti, Petri & Silvo, Aino & Gulan, Adam & Kilponen, Juha, 2022. "Monetary policy and inequality in a small open economy," Research Discussion Papers 3/2022, Bank of Finland.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2022_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Panagiotis Konstantinou & Anastasios Rizos & Artemis Stratopoulou, 2023. "The dynamic effect of macroprudential policies on income inequality: some evidence," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 248-265.
    8. Anis Chowdhury & Jomo Kwame Sundaram, 2023. "Inflation and Development: Central Bank Stabilization Policies Revisited," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 66(1), pages 3-14, June.
    9. Matusche, Alexander & Wacks, Johannes, 2023. "Does wealth inequality affect the transmission of monetary policy?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; monetary policy;

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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