The gains from international risk-sharing

The author examines the data on just how much risk-sharing currently takes place in both developed and developing countries. He also considers the question of whether significant unexploited gains from risk-sharing exist across borders.Risk

Do budget deficits cause inflation?

Keith Sill examines the theory and evidence on the link between fiscal and monetary policy and, thus, between deficits and inflation. Sill concludes that whether deficits lead to inflation depends on the extent to which a country’s monetary policy is independent.Budget deficits ; Inflation (Finance)

Inflation dynamics and the New Keynesian Phillips curve

A 1977 amendment to the Federal Reserve Act states that the Fed’s mandate is “to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” Moderate long-term interest rates require low and stable inflation. Monetary policymakers use instruments such as a short-term interest rate to guide the economy with the aim of achieving an inflation objective. To help guide their decisions, monetary policymakers benefit from having a reliable theory of how inflation is determined, one that relates the setting of their instrument to the unexpected events that hit the economy and consequently to the rate of inflation and other economic variables. In “Inflation Dynamics and the New Keynesian Phillips Curve,” Keith Sill examines a prominent theory of how inflation is determined, as articulated in what is called the New Keynesian Phillips curve. He also investigates some of the implications of the theory for the conduct of monetary policy.Inflation (Finance) ; Phillips curve ; Unemployment

Widening the wage gap: the skill premium and technology

Our final article looks at the difference in wages between high-skill workers (such as those who might work in biotech) and low-skill workers. This skill premium has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Although economists are still debating the causes of this increase, it seems likely that skill-biased technical change has played a large role. As companies have invested in new technologies, demand for workers who can use them has surged. In "Widening the Wage Gap: The Skill Premium and Technology," Keith Sill reviews the literature and tells us why some theories fall flat and why technology seems to be the key to the widening wage gap.Wages ; Technology ; Productivity

Macroeconomic volatility and the equity premium

Recent empirical work documents a decline in the U.S. equity premium and a decline in the standard deviation of real output growth. We investigate the link between aggregate risk and the asset returns in a dynamic production based asset-pricing model. When calibrated to match asset return moments, the model implies that the post-1984 reduction in TFP shock volatility of 60 percent gives rise to a 40 percent decline in the equity premium. Lower macroeconomic risk post-1984 can account for a substantial fraction of the decline in the equity premium.Equity ; Macroeconomics

What accounts for the postwar decline in economic volatility?

Finally, we look at the broader picture to determine why the U.S. economy has had fewer and shorter recessions over the past 20 years. Over time, swings in the growth of many macroeconomic variables, such as gross domestic product, have become smaller. Why this decline in economic volatility? In "What Accounts for the Postwar Decline in Economic Volatility?" Keith Sill highlights some of the facts about the increased stability of the U.S. economy and assesses the contribution of policy and other factors to the decline in volatility.Recessions

The cyclical behavior of regional per capita incomes in the postwar period

This paper examines the cyclical dynamics of per capita personal income for the major U.S. regions during the 1953:3-95:2 period. The analysis reveals considerable differences in the volatility of regional cycles. Controlling for differences in volatility, the authors find a great deal of comovement in the cyclical response of four regions (New England, Southeast, Southwest, and Far West), which the authors call the core region, and the nation. The authors also find a great deal of comovement between the Mideast and Plains regions, but these regions are only weakly correlated with national movements. The cyclical response of the Great Lakes region is markedly different from that of the other regions and the nation. Possible sources underlying differences in regional cycles are explored, such as the share of a region's income accounted for by manufacturing, defense spending as a proportion of a region's income, oil price shocks, and the stance of monetary policy. Somewhat surprisingly, the authors find that the share of manufacturing in a region seems to account for little of the variation in regional cycles.Economic history ; Income

Exchange rates, monetary policy regimes, and beliefs

The authors investigate an international monetary business-cycle model in which agents face monetary policy processes that incorporate regime shifts. In any given period agents cannot directly observe the policy regime, but instead form beliefs that are updated via Bayesian learning. As a result, expectation adjustment displays inertia that adds persistence to the effects of monetary shocks. Monetary policy process for the U.S. and an aggregate of OECD countries are estimated using Hamilton's Markov-switching model. The authors then solve and calibrate a version of the model and examine its quantitative properties.Foreign exchange rates ; Monetary policy

Forecasts, indicators and monetary policy

When setting monetary policy, should policymakers target variables such as commodity prices or interest rate spreads, which are sensitive to the market's expectations of inflation? Or are variables such as money growth, which are tied to the underlying causes of inflation and economic growth, better indicators of the economy's path? Keith Sill considers these questions as he reviews indicators past and presentForecasting ; Monetary policy

The macroeconomics of oil shocks

For various reasons, oil-price increases may lead to significant slowdowns in economic growth. Five of the last seven U.S. recessions were preceded by significant increases in the price of oil. In “The Macroeconomics of Oil Shocks,” Keith Sill examines the effect of changes in oil prices on U.S. economic activity, focusing on how runups in the price of oil can affect output growth and inflation. He also discusses the channels by which oil-price increases might affect the economy and the historical evidence on the relationship between oil prices, economic growth, and inflation.Petroleum products - Prices