Does inflation inequality matter for monetary policy?

Grant description:

This project will investigate how individual specific inflation rates affect the transmission of monetary policy. This research seeks to extend previous work to understand if inflation inequality matters for aggregate monetary policy response by using a quantitative model similar to Kaplan, Moll, and Violante to investigate how the joint-distribution between inflation rates and wealth (liquid and illiquid) matter for aggregate monetary policy response. Also, while inflation inequality between income groups and individuals differs over time, this work also seeks to uncover whether dispersion has increased, following income inequality trends. Nielsen Homescan consumer panel data will be used to measure household’s nondurable consumption.