Accounting for Postcrisis Inflation and Employment: A Retro Analysis

Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10306

Authors: Chiara Fratto; Harald Uhlig

Abstract: Why was there no deflation and what accounts for inflation after 2008? We use the prominent pre-crisis Smets-Wouters (2007) model to address this question. We find that due to price markup shocks alone inflation would have been 1%higher than observed and 0.5% higher that the long-run average. Their standard deviation is similar to its pre-crisis level. Price markup shocks were also responsible for the slow recovery of employment, though not for the initial drop. Monetary policy shocks predict an inflation rate 0.5% below average. Government expenditure innovations do not contribute much either to inflation or to employment dynamics

Keywords: Inflation; Employment; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomic Modeling

JEL Codes: E31; E32; E52


Causal Claims Network Graph

Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.


Causal Claims

CauseEffect
price markup shocks (D49)inflation (E31)
monetary policy shocks (E39)inflation (E31)
risk premium shocks (G19)employment (J68)
monetary policy shocks (E39)employment (J68)
price markup shocks (D49)employment (J68)
government expenditure shocks (H59)inflation (E31)
government expenditure shocks (H59)employment (J68)

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