This paper studies the effects of monetary policy on asset trading and production in a laboratory economy. Participants play the role of household investors who make consumption, labor, and investment decisions. Introducing asset markets to the economy does not generate significant real effects....

Calibration results in Rabin (2000) and Safra and Segal (2008; 2009) suggest that both expected and non-expected utility theories cannot produce non-negligible risk aversion over small stakes without producing implausible risk aversion over large stakes. This paper provides calibration results for...

How does the allocation of scarce jobs and production influence their supply? We present the results of a macroeconomics laboratory experiment that investigates the effects of alternative rationing schemes on economic stability. Participants play the role of consumer-workers who interact in...

Can monetary or fiscal policy stabilize expectations in a liquidity trap? We study expectation formation near the zero lower bound using a learning-to-forecast laboratory experiment. Monetary policy targets inflation around a constant or state-dependent target. Subjects’ expectations...

Currently, we have only a limited understanding of how central bank purchases of illiquid assets (“quantitative easing”) affect long-term interest rates, borrowing costs, and the real economy. Since the historical record of quantitative easing is sparse, theoretical work is needed to guide...

I study how the specific details of a micro founded monetary economy affect the determination of government policy. I consider three variants of the Lagos-Wright monetary framework: a benchmark were all markets are competitive; a case which allows for financial intermediaries; and a case with...

In the absence of government commitment, the conduct of fiscal and monetary policy depends on the sign of inherited net nominal government obligations. When these obligations are negative, monetary policy is non-distortionary and fiscal policy distortions are smoothed over time, either forever...

Conventional theory suggests that fiat money will have value in capitalpoor economies. We demonstrate that fiat money may also have value in capital-rich economies, if the price of capital is excessively volatile. Excess asset-price volatility is generated by news; information that has no social...