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Minority Inflation, Unemployment, and Monetary Policy

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Abstract

Our paper addresses the heterogeneous effects of monetary policy on households of different races. The cyclical volatility of real income differs significantly for households of different races and income levels, reflecting differential exposure to fluctuations in employment and consumer prices. All Black households are disproportionately affected by employment fluctuations, whereas price volatility is only particularly pronounced for Black households with income above the national median. The latter face 40 percent higher price volatility than both poorer households of the same race and white households of similar income. To evaluate the effects of policy, we propose a New Keynesian framework with heterogeneous exposure to employment and price volatility. We find that an accommodative monetary stance generates asymmetric outcomes within race groups. Low-income households experience unemployment stabilization benefits, while high-income ones incur real income volatility costs. Differences are especially large among Black households. Reducing the volatility of unemployment by 1 percentage point engenders a 1.17 percentage point reduction in overall income volatility for poorer Black households, but an increase of 0.6 percentage points in income volatility for richer Black households.

Suggested Citation

  • Munseob Lee & Claudia Macaluso & Felipe Schwartzman, 2024. "Minority Inflation, Unemployment, and Monetary Policy," Working Paper 24-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedrwp:99275
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mark Gertler & Luca Sala & Antonella Trigari, 2008. "An Estimated Monetary DSGE Model with Unemployment and Staggered Nominal Wage Bargaining," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(8), pages 1713-1764, December.
    2. Patrick Bayer & Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2018. "Divergent Paths: A New Perspective on Earnings Differences Between Black and White Men Since 1940," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1459-1501.
    3. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 2024. "Dynamism Diminished: The Role of Housing Markets and Credit Conditions," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 29-61, April.
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    Keywords

    inflation; monetary policy; Employment and labor markets; economic inequality;
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