Search Results
Working Paper
Measuring Inflation Anchoring and Uncertainty : A US and Euro Area Comparison
We use several US and euro-area surveys of professional forecasters to estimate a dynamic factor model of inflation featuring time-varying uncertainty. We obtain survey-consistent distributions of future inflation at any horizon, both in the US and the euro area. Equipped with this model, we propose a novel measure of the anchoring of inflation expectations that accounts for inflation uncertainty. Our results suggest that following the Great Recession, inflation anchoring improved in the US, while mild de-anchoring occurred in the euro-area. As of our sample end, both areas appear to be ...
Discussion Paper
Has the Inflation Risk Premium Fallen? Is it Now Negative?
In this note, we examine the theoretical determinants of one important component of inflation compensation, the inflation risk premium, and argue that a secular decline in the inflation risk premium may be responsible for a substantial portion of the decline in inflation compensation in recent years.
Working Paper
How Stable are Inflation Expectations in the Euro Area? Evidence from the Euro-Area Financial Markets
We analyze evolution of inflation expectations in the euro area (EA) using a novel measure of inflation expectations implied by the French nominal and inflation-indexed bonds. Overall, we find that EA inflation expectations have been relatively well anchored in the 2004 -- 2019 sample but have been somewhat sensitive to the incoming macroeconomic news and monetary policy shocks in the sample that includes the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results are robust with respect to the use of different inflation-indexed securities data, such as the EA inflation-linked swaps.
Working Paper
Gauging the Sentiment of Federal Open Market Committee Communications through the Eyes of the Financial Press
We apply natural language processing tools to news articles in the financial press to construct a sentiment index—an index of the perceived semantic orientation of monetary policy communications around scheduled Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. To that end, we develop several dictionaries that capture various monetary policy tools: conventional monetary policy, asset purchases, and forward guidance. The surprises in the sentiment index around FOMC meetings announcements explain variation in major asset prices classes between May 1999 and November 2022. Sentiment index ...
Working Paper
The information content of the embedded deflation pption in TIPS
In this paper we estimate the value of the embedded option in U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The option value exhibits significant time variation that is correlated with periods of deflationary expectations. We use our estimated option values to construct an embedded option price index and an embedded option return index. We then use our embedded option indices as independent variables and examine their statistical and economic significance for explaining the future inflation rate. In most of our regressions, our embedded option return index is significant even in the ...
Working Paper
The informational content of the embedded deflation option in TIPS
In this paper we estimate the value of the embedded option in U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The option value exhibits significant time variation that is correlated with periods of deflationary expectations. We use our estimated option values to construct an embedded option price index and an embedded option return index. We then use our embedded option indices as independent variables and examine their statistical and economic significance for explaining the future inflation rate. In almost all of our regressions, the embedded option return index is significant even in ...