Using firm-level survey data from Germany, this paper asks how do supply constraints propagate monetary policy shocks? To answer this question, we first offer a general discussion on the measurement of supply constraints. We show that capacity utilization, a widely accepted measure of...

Firms’ market power, measured by markups, has risen substantially and unequally across sectors. To evaluate the implications of these trends for monetary non-neutrality, we develop a quantitative menu cost model that covers multiple sectors with heterogeneous degrees of market competition. Two...

Using unique firm-level survey data from Germany, this paper investigates two measures of supply constraints: a new direct measure that indicates material shortages and capacity utilization, a widely accepted measure of bottlenecks and slack. We document substantial heterogeneity in supply...

We provide evidence on narratives about the macroeconomy-the stories people tell to explain macroeconomic phenomena-in the context of a historic surge in inflation. In surveys with more than 10,000 US households and 100 academic experts, we measure economic narratives in open-ended survey...

This study investigates the role of media tone on inflation expectations. Examining the relationships between news and the inflation expectations of various U.S demographic groupings, we find that traditional news influences older cohorts, while social media news align more closely with the...

Under nominal progressive taxation, inflation drives up tax rates if the schedule is not adjusted, leading to bracket creep. To isolate bracket creep from other sources of tax rate changes, I propose a non-parametric decomposition of changes in tax rates. Applying the decomposition to German...

Expansionary fiscal policies have increased significantly following the subprime crisis in 2007 and the COVID-19 crisis, leading to fiscal dominance concerns, where a growing share of monetary authorities may be forced to deviate from policy targets to accommodate fiscal policies. Meanwhile,...

Post-covid inflation was predominantly driven by unexpectedly strong demand forces, not only in the United States, but also in the Euro Area. In comparison, the inflationary impact of adverse supply shocks was less pronounced, even though these shocks significantly constrained economic activity....

We provide evidence for an expectation gap, where risk-averse as well as impatient households and experts provide significantly higher prior inflation forecasts. Using a survey randomized control trial (RCT), we can show that information about inflation forecasts closes this expectations gap....

We study the link between expected inflation and wages using novel panel data from German firms and employees. We find that pass-through—the percentage point change in wage growth given a one percentage point change in expected inflation—is small: 0.11–0.17 for firms and 0.03–0.07 for...