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Are Households Indifferent to Monetary Policy Announcements?

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  • De Fiore, Fiorella
  • Lombardi, Marco
  • Schuffels, Johannes

Abstract

We study the impact of the Fed’s monetary policy announcements on households’ expectations by comparing responses to the Survey of Consumer Expectations before and after Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, over the period 2013-2019. We find that Fed decisions affect expectations of interest rates on savings accounts, particularly for respondents with high financial and numerical literacy. The effect is particularly strong in the first few days after the announcement of the decision and decays in the days that follow. The impact of monetary policy announcements on inflation expectations is muted, even in response to some of the most relevant meetings of the FOMC that took place during that period. Expectations of personal financial conditions are barely affected. Our results stand in contrast to experimental studies that find strong effects of monetary policy and other macroeconomic news on expectations of households receiving a specific treatment, suggesting that the news naturally reaching the general population may provide weaker signals.

Suggested Citation

  • De Fiore, Fiorella & Lombardi, Marco & Schuffels, Johannes, 2022. "Are Households Indifferent to Monetary Policy Announcements?," CEPR Discussion Papers 17041, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17041
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    2. Lena Dräger & Michael J. Lamla, 2024. "Consumers' macroeconomic expectations," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 427-451, April.
    3. Alan S. Blinder & Michael Ehrmann & Jakob de Haan & David-Jan Jansen, 2024. "Central Bank Communication with the General Public: Promise or False Hope?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 425-457, June.
    4. Claudio Borio, 2021. "Back to the Future: Intellectual Challenges for Monetary Policy," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 40(4), pages 273-287, December.
    5. Dräger, Lena, 2023. "Central Bank Communication with the General Public," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-713, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    6. Vyshnevskyi, Iegor & Jombo, Wytone & Sohn, Wook, 2024. "The clarity of monetary policy communication and financial market volatility in developing economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    7. Moritz Grebe & Peter Tillmann, 2022. "Household Expectations and Dissent Among Policymakers," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202226, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    8. Grebe, Moritz & Tillmann, Peter, 2022. "Household expectations and dissent among policymakers," IMFS Working Paper Series 169, Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS).
    9. Grebe, Moritz & Tillmann, Peter, 2023. "Household Expectations and Dissent Among Policymakers," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277657, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Julien Pinter & Evžen Kočenda, 2025. "Media Treatment of Monetary Policy Surprises and Their Impact on Firms' and Consumers' Expectations," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(7), pages 1793-1842, October.
    11. Grebe, Moritz & Tillmann, Peter, 2025. "Household expectations and dissent among policymakers," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General
    • E70 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General

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