CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2012
| Author | Bunn, Daniel |
|---|---|
| Title | Quantitative Yakking: Communication in Unconventional Monetary Policy |
| Summary | Federal Reserve (Fed) communication has changed significantly since the beginning of the financial crisis. This has been accompanied by increased public interest in monetary policy issues and Congressional concern with monetary policy. Using word counts of Fed communications from 1996-2011, I show that there is a structural break in the volume of communication at the end of 2007. By examining media articles and opinion polls concerning the Fed, I show that public interest in monetary policy has grown remarkably in recent years and that the general public opinion of the Fed has fallen. I also find theoretical evidence that shows that the crisis itself and the Fed’s unconventional response exposed the bank to a credibility loss. Congress has responded by exploiting this loss and further discouraging support for the Fed. I show that by clearly communicating a time frame for its unconventional measures, the Fed could win back some of its public credibility. Finally, I propose that the Fed implement a more effective communication strategy that would make use of social media and local connections in order to regain public trust. |
| Supervisor | Campolmi, Alessia |
| Department | Economics MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2012/bunn_daniel.pdf |
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