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Monetary Policy and the Top 1%: Evidence from a Century of Modern Economic History

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Listed:
  • Mehdi El Herradi

    (Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, AMSE)

  • Aurélien Leroy

    (University of Bordeaux)

Abstract

This paper examines the distributional effects of monetary policy in 12 OECD economies between 1920 and 2016. We exploit the implications of the macroeconomic policy trilemma with an external instrument approach to analyze how top income shares respond to monetary policy shocks. The results indicate that monetary tightening strongly decreases the share of national income held by the top 1 percent and vice versa for a monetary expansion, irrespective of the position of the economy. This effect (i) holds for the top percentile and the ultrarich (top 0.1 percent and 0.01 percent income shares), while (ii) it does not necessarily induce a decrease in income inequality when considering the entire income distribution. Our findings also suggest that the effect of monetary policy on top income shares is likely to be channeled via real asset returns.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehdi El Herradi & Aurélien Leroy, 2021. "Monetary Policy and the Top 1%: Evidence from a Century of Modern Economic History," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 17(71), pages 1-41, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ijc:ijcjou:y:2021:q:5:a:6
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    Cited by:

    1. Karl-Friedrich Israel & Tim Florian Sepp & Nils Sonnenberg, 2023. "The Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Stock Markets and Household Incomes in Japan," Post-Print halshs-04024219, HAL.
    2. Israel, Karl-Friedrich & Sepp, Tim Florian & Sonnenberg, Nils, 2023. "The effects of unconventional monetary policy on stock markets and household incomes in Japan," Working Papers 177, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Economics and Management Science.
    3. Davtyan, Karen, 2023. "Unconventional monetary policy and economic inequality," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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