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Discussion Paper
A New Approach for Identifying Demand and Supply Shocks in the Oil Market
An oil-price spike is often used as the textbook example of a supply shock. However, rapidly rising oil prices can also reflect a demand shock. Recognizing the difference is important for central bankers. A supply-driven increase in the price of oil can result in higher unemployment and inflation, leaving central bankers with the difficult decision to loosen policy, tighten policy, or not respond at all. A demand-driven increase reflecting global growth may support the case for tighter policy. In this post, we describe an approach for decomposing oil price changes into supply and demand ...
Journal Article
Is Demand or Supply More Important for Inflation?
Simulations using a Phillips curve-type relationship provide insights into the importance of demand versus supply for inflation over different periods. The decade of low inflation after the Great Recession was driven mainly by supply forces. Given that monetary policy operates to influence demand but not supply, this result helps to account for the persistent undershooting of the Fed’s 2% inflation goal during these years. In contrast, the period of high inflation during the pandemic era was driven mainly by demand forces.