Economic Perspectives
Bridging Between Policymakers’ and Economists’ Views on Bubbles
Senior economist Gadi Barlevy examines the gap between policymakers and researchers when it comes to asset bubbles. He describes policymakers’ key questions about asset bubbles and asks how economic models might be used to shed light on them.
Seasonal and Business Cycles of U.S. Employment
Menelik Geremew and François Gourio
The authors document several facts about the seasonality of U.S. employment, including its marked decline since the 1960s. In addition, they find there is little evidence that industries or states that are more seasonal are also more sensitive to the business cycle, contrary to some previous studies.
A Monetarist View of the Fed’s Balance Sheet Normalization Period
This article examines the methodology used to determine that the Fed’s remittances to the U.S. Treasury will remain positive during its balance sheet normalization period. In 2017, the Fed began the process of gradually shrinking its balance sheet by reducing its fixed-income holdings.
Household Inequality and the Consumption Response to Aggregate Real Shocks
Gene Amromin, Mariacristina De Nardi and Karl Schulze
What role did household inequality play in the significant drop in consumption that occurred during the Great Recession? And how has it affected the pace of recovery? The share of borrowing-constrained households increased dramatically during the financial crisis and remained high at least until 2012.
