Post-pandemic inflation: 7 lessons for monetary policy
A new e-book examines monetary policy responses to the 2021 – 2022 spike in inflation and identifies challenges and lessons for the future.
Faculty
Kristin Forbes is the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Global Economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
She has regularly rotated between academia and senior policy positions. From 2014-2017 she was an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee for the Bank of England. From 2003 to 2005 Forbes served as a member of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers and from 2001-2002 she was a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Treasury Department. She also was a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers for the state of Massachusetts from 2009-2014.
In 2019, Forbes was named an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She is currently the convener of the Bellagio Group, a research associate at the NBER and CEPR, and a member of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations. She also serves in a number of advisory positions, such as the Monetary Policy Advisory Panel of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the Advisory Panel for the Bank for International Settlements, and on the External Advisory Group of the Managing Director for the International Monetary Fund. Forbes’ academic research addresses policy-related questions in international macroeconomics, including monetary policy, macroprudential tools, capital flows, exchange rates, inflation, and contagion. She has won numerous teaching awards and teaches one of the most popular classes at MIT's Sloan School. Before joining MIT, Forbes worked at the World Bank and Morgan Stanley.
She received her PhD in Economics from MIT and graduated summa cum laude with highest honors from Williams College.
Bergant, Katharina, and Kristin J. Forbes. European Economic Review. Forthcoming. MIT Sloan Working Paper #6795-22. CEPR Working Paper DP #17699. NBER Working Paper 31254. Data Files. Related blog on VoxEU (Jan 2023).
Forbes, Kristin J. Financial Times, March 4, 2024.
Du, Wenxin, Kristin J. Forbes, and Matthew Luzzetti. Presentation, US Monetary Policy Forum, New York, United States. March 1, 2024. Financial Times Op-Ed.
English, Bill, Kristin J. Forbes and Ángel Ubide. London, UK: CEPR Press, 2024. VoxEU Highlight Article. Download eBook.
Forbes, Kristin J., MIT Sloan Working Paper 6946-23. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, July 2023.
Forbes, Kristin J., Christian Friedrich, and Dennis Reinhardt. Journal of Monetary Economics Vol. 137, (2023): 47-81. Online Appendices for published paper. Blog on Bank Underground (June 29, 2023). Blog on VoxEU (June 29, 2023). Bank of England Staff Working Paper #1003. MIT-Sloan Working Paper #6976-22. CEPR Working Paper DP #17852.
A new e-book examines monetary policy responses to the 2021 – 2022 spike in inflation and identifies challenges and lessons for the future.
Invited guests attended a special event at the new MIT Museum location in Kendall Square in early December.
The main topic of discussion at the US Monetary Policy Forum was the newly released paper "Quantitative Tightening Around the Globe ..."
"QT [quantitative tightening] has worked in the opposite direction to quantitative easing, but the effects are much, much more muted."
"As the economy recovered, the U.S. just poured more kerosene onto the fire."
Ultralow inflation and interest rates were making for an unusual equilibrium. "It's hard to get out of that cycle without a major shock."