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Higher Seminar in Economics | Present Bias Amplifies the Household Balance-Sheet Channels of Macroeconomic Policy with Benjamin Moll

Department of Economics is welcoming you to an online seminar with Benjamin Moll, LSE. We study the effect of monetary and fiscal policy in a heterogeneous-agent model where households have present-biased time preferences and naive beliefs. The model features a liquid asset and illiquid home equity, which households can use as collateral for borrowing.

Welcome to Higher Seminar in Economics organised by the Department of Economics, SSE. The seminar speaker is Benjamin Moll, London School of Economics, presenting "Present Bias Amplifies the Household Balance-Sheet Channels of Macroeconomic Policy".

Abstract

We study the effect of monetary and fiscal policy in a heterogeneous-agent model where households have present-biased time preferences and naive beliefs. The model features a liquid asset and illiquid home equity, which households can use as collateral for borrowing. Because present bias substantially increases households’ marginal propensity to consume (MPC), present bias increases the impact of fiscal policy. Present bias also amplifies the effect of monetary policy but, at the same time, slows down the speed of monetary transmission. Interest rate cuts incentivize households to conduct cash-out refinances, which become targeted liquidity-injections to high-MPC households. But present bias also introduces a motive for households to procrastinate refinancing their mortgages, which slows down the speed with which this monetary channel operates.

Benjamin Moll is Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a macroeconomist interested in understanding inequality within and across countries.

This is an online seminar which will take place via Zoom. The link to the seminar will be distrubted by invitation only. Please contact lyudmila.vafaeva@hhs.se if you would like to attend the seminar.

 

 

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