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Active vs. passive policy and the trade-off between output and inflation in HANK

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  • Kwicklis, Noah

Abstract

When fiscal policy is active and monetary policy is passive in a heterogeneous agent New Keynesian (HANK) model, deficit-financed transfers to low-asset households lead to similar cumulative inflation but greater increases in real output than transfers to wealthier households. I use the inverse of the “Phillips multiplier”, the price level sacrifice ratio, to quantify this dynamic. Household heterogeneity and targeted policy change the timing of output gaps, making this consistent with the Phillips Curve and rendering conventional sacrifice ratio intuition misleading for assessing the inflation/output trade-off between policies.

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  • Kwicklis, Noah, 2025. "Active vs. passive policy and the trade-off between output and inflation in HANK," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:moneco:v:151:y:2025:i:c:s0304393225000030
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2025.103732
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal theory; Heterogeneity; Inflation; HANK;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory

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