What’s (not) up with inflation?
Past Event
Introduction & The Puzzle
For the past decade, inflation hasn’t behaved the way economic models predicted. The inflation rate didn’t fall as much during the Great Recession as expected, and it hasn’t climbed as much as expected as the economy and labor market recovered. An earlier generation of central bankers struggled to bring inflation down. Today, the Federal Reserve and other major central banks are struggling to bring inflation up to their publicly announced targets. Experts are debating if the global economy has changed in profound ways, or if inflation is simply sleeping and will awaken sometime.
On October 3, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy at Brookings explored the various explanations for the unusual behavior of inflation and the implications for monetary and other policy, with several experts.
Agenda
Introduction
The puzzle
Janet L. Yellen
United States Secretary of the Treasury - United States Department of the Treasury
Former Distinguished Fellow in Residence - Economic Studies
It’s all about monetary policy and inflation expectations
Silvana Tenreyro
Member, Monetary Policy Committee - Bank of England
Professor in Economics - London School of Economics
Michael Weber
Associate Professor of Finance - University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Nellie Liang
Undersecretary for Domestic Finance - United States Department of the Treasury
Former Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
Session Materials
It’s all about technology and globalization
Alberto Cavallo
Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration - Harvard Business School
Kristin J. Forbes
Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management, Professor of Global Economics and Management - MIT-Sloan School of Management
Louise Sheiner
The Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
Policy Director - The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy
Session Materials
It’s all about the labor market
Jared Bernstein
Member, Council of Economic Advisers - The White House
Former Senior Fellow - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Ekaterina Peneva
Principal Economist, Prices and Wages - Federal Reserve Board
Stephanie Aaronson
Senior Associate Director, Division of Research and Statistics - Federal Reserve Board
Session Materials
So what are the implications for policy?
Ben S. Bernanke
Distinguished Senior Fellow - Economic Studies - The Brookings Institution
Olivier Blanchard
C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow - Peterson Institute for International Economics
Paul Krugman
Op-Ed Columnist - The New York Times
Loretta Mester
President and CEO - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
David Wessel
Director - The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy
Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
More Information
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