Discussion paper

DP16391 Expectations' Anchoring and Inflation Persistence

Understanding the sources of inflation persistence is crucial for monetary policy. This paper provides an assessment of the influence of inflation expectations' anchoring on the persistence of inflation. We construct an index of inflation expectations' anchoring using survey-based inflation forecasts for 45 economies since 1989. We then study the response of consumer prices to terms-of-trade shocks and find that these shocks have a significant and persistent effect on consumer price inflation when expectations are poorly anchored. By contrast, inflation reacts by less and returns quickly to its pre-shock level when expectations are strongly anchored.

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Citation

Bems, R, F Caselli, F Grigoli and B Gruss (2021), ‘DP16391 Expectations' Anchoring and Inflation Persistence‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 16391. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp16391