Learning about inflation expectations from the data by Francesco D’Acunto, Ulrike Malmendier, Michael Weber published by VOXEU (5/2022).
Inflation has surged to historic levels around the globe. Designing the correct policy responses requires a deep understanding of how consumers form and update their inflation expectations, and how expectations influence economic behaviour. This column summarises key findings in the literature on inflation expectations, particularly how they deviate from the full-information rational expectations paradigm. Household inflation expectations are typically biased upwards, systematically skewed, and correlated with social/demographic characteristics. Studying these heterogeneities and their impact on aggregate outcomes is a key challenge for policymakers going forward.
