scholarly journals Monetary Policy and Inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 006-017
Author(s):  
Alexander A. Rakviashvili ◽  

The article provides a literature review of studies of the impact of monetary policy on income and wealth inequality. Based on the analysis and systematization of the articles mainly written over the past 25–30 years as well as articles written by central bank authorities, the main approaches to assessing the extent to which the Fed's actions are responsible for the growth of wealth inequality in the United States, which began in the 1970s, are identified. It was revealed that the relative unanimity of economists on this issue was replaced by significant pluralism of opinions after the crisis of 2007–2009. Among other reasons this was caused by the activity of central banks and their use of non-conventional approaches in conducting the monetary policy. In addition, the channels through which the actions of central banks affect the distribution of wealth in the economy are identified. In total, five such channels were singled out. Thus, changes in the monetary policy affect the debt market and the structure of assets and liabilities of households, while households with fixed incomes and with a high propensity to use cash are more likely to suffer losses during the expansionary monetary policy. And the fifth channel, which is less popular among the economists, the "Cantillon effect", leads to an increase in the wealth of the first recipients of the issued money at the expense of those who are farthest from the center of emission. The article provides empirical evidence of why this effect is significant for the American economy, and theoretical arguments indicating that taking the Cantillon effect into account can add certainty to studies of both monetary policy costs and institutional changes caused by rising inequality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
M. L. Dorofeev

Abstract: After the reform of the world monetary system in 1971, the competition between countries for the global market is taking place in completely new conditions. Monetary and fiscal authorities have accumulated vast experience in regulating the economy and strengthening country competitive advantages through complex mechanisms of quantitative easing, foreign exchange rates manipulation, increasing debts, etc. Overcoming the consequences of the financial crises of the 21st century every time forces monetary regulators to implement increasingly radical measures in order to save the economy by injecting enormous amounts of liquidity into the market to buy out bad corporate debts as well as government debt securities. At the same time, the questions of how monetary policy affects the level of economic inequality and who is its beneficiary are becoming more relevant.The article seeks to analyze the impact of changes in monetary policy parameters on wealth inequality in the United States. Given the cyclical nature of economic inequality, the main method of research was chosen as a graphical statistical analysis, since it allows to identify trends effectively and keep in focus more than 100-year picture of changes in the analyzed indicators. For a more holistic picture, the dynamics of economic wealth inequality level were compared not only with key indicators of monetary policy, but also with the dynamics of marginal tax rates in US.One conclusion of the research is that wealth inequality depends more on fiscal adjustment and marginal tax rates than on monetary factors. Inadequate marginal income and inheritance tax rates are factors of rising of wealth inequality in US. Changing of monetary system settings also influences on the level of wealth inequality, because it affects the valuation of financial assets, and therefore the wealth of the richest people in US. Another important conclusion is the idea that the new monetary policy, despite all fears that it is a source of growing economic inequality, is acceptable with marginal income and inheritance tax rates of about 60% and with effective macroprudential regulation of US economy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Brzezinski

This paper estimates how previous major pandemic events affected economic and gender inequalities in the short- to medium run. We consider the impact of six major pandemic episodes – H3N2 Flu (1968), SARS (2003), H1N1 Swine Flu (2009), MERS (2012), Ebola (2014), and Zika (2016) – on cross-country inequalities in a sample of up to 180 countries observed over 1950-2019. Results show that the past pandemics have moderately increased income inequality in the affected countries in the period of four to five years after the pandemic’s start. On the other hand, we do not find any robust negative impacts on wealth inequality. The results concerning gender inequality are less consistent, but we find some evidence of declining gender equality among the hardest hit countries, as well as of growing gender gaps in unemployment within the four years after the onset of the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Marina Zelenkevich ◽  
Natallia Bandarenka

In the context of globalization and regionalization, central banks pursuing monetary policy in the country at the same time become subjects of monetary regulation within the framework of the integrational associations of which they are members. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of monetary policy on investment and economic growth in integration unions and determine the appropriateness of their coordination. To achieve the goal, a method of correlation-regression analysis is proposed, one which allows for the identifying and assessing of the degree of influence of certain directions of monetary policy of the countries of the integration association on the indicators of investment and economic growth. As a result of the analysis, the expediency of coordination and implementation of a coordinated policy of central banks to stimulate the deposit and credit policy of commercial banks was proved, which positively affects the characteristics of supply and demand in the integrated investment market. The assessment of the directions of the coordination of monetary investments regulation was carried out on the example of an integration association - the Union of Belarus and Russia and can be extended to other integration associations with the participation of Belarus, in particular, to the monetary interaction of countries within the Eurasian Economic Union. The analysis is based on the statistical data of the National Statistical Committee and the National Bank of the Republic Belarus, the EAEU Department of Statistics, as well as statistical information from the Central Bank of Russia and the Union of Russia and Belarus.


Author(s):  
John Kenneth Galbraith ◽  
James K. Galbraith

This chapter examines the impact of the Federal Reserve System on money and banking in the United States. The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913 by virtue of the Federal Reserve Act passed by Congress and signed by President Woodrow Wilson. The Federal Reserve Act (1913) provided not for one but for as many as twelve central banks. It was conceived as an answer to the great panics, but in this respect the System was notably defective. Nor was the System better as an antidote for an alarming epidemic of bank failures. Furthermore, the most severe inflation ever in peacetime occurred under its watch. The chapter considers the successes and failures of the Federal Reserve System and looks at another body established to study the management of money in the United States: the National Monetary Commission.


Author(s):  
Adam Drewnowski

Obesity in the United States is a socio-economic issue. Recent advances in geographic information system methodology can provide a better understanding of the impact of neighbourhood deprivation on access to healthy foods, diet quality and selected health outcomes. Whereas state-level Centers for Disease Control maps are still best known, newer approaches have mapped obesity at different levels of geographic aggregation: county, political district, zip code or census tract. This chapter examines data from the new Seattle Obesity Study, which permits the mapping of dietary behaviours and health outcomes at the property parcel tax level – the finest level of geographic resolution possible. Analysis suggests that food-consumption patterns also show a spatial distribution, broadly following the geographic distribution of wealth and social class.


2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-63
Author(s):  
Mathias Binswanger

Zusammenfassung: Als Folge der jüngsten Finanzkrise ist der Einfluss der Zentralbanken auf die Geldschöpfung weitgehend verloren gegangen. Denn die Kontrolle über Reserven funktioniert nur solange, wie diese knapp sind und deren Bezug an bestimmte Bedingungen geknüpft werden kann. Seither halten die Geschäftsbanken in den ökonomisch wichtigsten Ländern de facto dermaßen viele Reserven, dass sie nicht mehr auf die jeweilige Zentralbank angewiesen sind. Diese Entwicklung lässt sich sowohl für die FED als auch für die EZB aufzeigen. Dies führt zu geldpolitisch neuen Herausforderungen, die bisher kaum beachtet wurden. Die Einflussmöglichkeit der Zentralbanken auf den Geldschöpfungsprozess der Geschäftsbanken wurde noch nie in so großem Stil ausgehebelt. Deshalb müssen Zentralbanken in Zukunft ihr Repertoire an geldpolitischen Massnahmen erweitern. Nur mit dem Drehen an der Zinsschraube wird man den Geldschöpfungsprozess in Zukunft kaum mehr in gewünschter Weise beeinflussen können. Summary: As a result of the recent financial crisis, the influence of central banks on money creation has largely disappeared. Controlling this process only works as long as money creation of commercial banks also leads to a need for additional reserves from the central bank. However, the large asset purchase programs of monetary authorities after the financial crises resulted in an enormous increase in reserves at commercial banks. Therefore, commercial banks have enough reserves to create additional money at large amounts and do not depend on central banks any more. This development is indicative for both the FED and the ECB. Therefore central banks face the challenge how they can restore their influence on the process of money creation. Just lowering or increasing interest rates, which was the major way of conducting monetary policy in the past, will not work anymore in the future.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen D. Holt ◽  
Rebecca S. Miller ◽  
Ingrid Philibert ◽  
Thomas J. Nasca

Abstract Background Recent studies suggest that the supply of primary care physicians and generalist physicians in other specialties may be inadequate to meet the needs of the US population. Data on the numbers and types of physicians-in-training, such as those collected by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), can be used to help understand variables affecting this supply. Objective We assessed trends in the number and type of medical school graduates entering accredited residencies, and the impact those trends could have on the future physician workforce. Methods Since 2004, the ACGME has published annually its data on accredited institutions, programs, and residents to help the graduate medical education community understand major trends in residency education, and to help guide graduate medical education policy. We present key results and trends for the period between academic years 2003–2004 and 2012–2013. Results The data show that increases in trainees in accredited programs are not uniform across specialties, or the types of medical school from which trainees graduated. In the past 10 years, the growth in residents entering training that culminates in initial board certification (“pipeline” specialties) was 13.0%, the number of trainees entering subspecialty education increased 39.9%. In the past 5 years, there has been a 25.8% increase in the number of osteopathic physicians entering allopathic programs. Conclusions These trends portend challenges in absorbing the increasing numbers of allopathic and osteopathic graduates, and US international graduates in accredited programs. The increasing trend in subspecialization appears at odds with the current understanding of the need for generalist physicians.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 472
Author(s):  
Petre Caraiani ◽  
Adrian Călin

We investigate the effects of monetary policy shocks, including unconventional policy measures, on the bubbles of the energy sector, for the case of the United States. We estimate a time-varying Bayesian VAR model that allows for quantifying the impact of monetary policy shocks on asset prices and bubbles. The energy sector is measured through the S&P Energy Index, while bubbles are measured through the difference between asset prices and the corresponding dividends for the energy sector. We find significant differences in the impact of monetary policy shocks for the aggregate economy and for the energy sector. The findings seem sensitive to the interest rate use, i.e., whether one uses the shadow interest rate or the long-term interest rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Young

Unconventional monetary policy was implemented as a result of the financial crisis and resulted in rising asset prices in the stock markets. While the increase in asset prices is not exclusively triggered by unconventional monetary policy, central bankers accept that unconventional monetary policy has resulted in distributional effects on wealth, and that these are not negligible. What is missing are studies analyzing whether these non-standard monetary policies have different distributional effects on women and men. The intent of the paper is to interrogate whether unconventional monetary policy of central banks has a gender bias that operates in favor of men as gender and against women as gender. Relying on insights from feminist economics, the paper uses the results of the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) of 62,000 household across 15 euro-area countries. While the results are tentative, they show an asymmetric distributional gendered impact. Since the rich own more assets than the poor, and since monetary easing works in part by raising asset prices, these unconventional policies may unintentionally benefit the wealthier quintile (on average more male) at the expense of the poorer strata of society (on average more female).


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1120-1136
Author(s):  
B Jewell Bohlinger

Over the past 30 years the U.S. prison population has exploded. With the impact of climate change already here, we are also seeing new critiques of mass incarceration emerge, namely their environmental impact. In response to these burgeoning critiques as well as calls to action by the Justice Department to implement more sustainable and cost-effective strategies in prisons, the United States is experiencing a surge in prison sustainability programs throughout the country. Although sustainability is an important challenge facing the world, this paper argues that while “greening” programs seem like attempts to reform current methods of imprisonment, sustainability programming is an extension of the neoliberalization of incarceration in the United States. By emphasizing cost cutting while individualizing rehabilitation, prisons mobilize sustainability programming to produce “green prisoners” who are willing to take responsibility for their rehabilitation and diminish their economically burdensome behaviors (i.e. excessive wastefulness). Using semi-structure journals and interviews at three Oregon prisons, this paper investigates these ideas through the lens of the Sustainability in Prisons Project.


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