Why the Same Inflation Target May Not Fit All Countries
Chien, YiLi; Bennett, Julie (2020-08-27)
The central banks of many advanced economies have adopted an inflation target at around 2%. But should they use the same target?
On the Economy

COVID-19: What Do FREDcast Users Think about Economic Growth?
Shell, Hannah; Owyang, Michael T.; Bennett, Julie (2020-03-20)
Professional forecasts abound, but what does the general public think will happen with the economy?
On the Economy

Journal Article
Same Target, Different Economies: A Cross-Country Analysis of Inflation
Chien, YiLi; Bennett, Julie (2020-03-05)
Though some countries adopt a common inflation target, nations often have different patterns of inflation.
The Regional Economist , Volume 28 , Issue 1

What Drives Changes in Inflation?
Chien, YiLi; Bennett, Julie (2021-05-27)
Examining the inflationary trends of key components of the PCE price index can help provide insight into recent movements in consumer prices.
On the Economy

Journal Article
On the Relative Performance of Inflation Forecasts
Bennett, Julie; Owyang, Michael T. (2022)
Inflation expectations constitute important components of macroeconomic models and monetary policy rules. We investigate the relative performance of consumer, professional, market-based, and model-based inflation forecasts. Consistent with the previous literature, professional forecasts most accurately predict one-year-ahead year-over-year inflation. Both consumers and professionals overestimate inflation over their respective sample periods. Market-based forecasts as measured by the swap market breakeven inflation rates significantly overestimate actual inflation; Treasury ...
Review , Volume 104 , Issue 2 , Pages 131-148

Breaking Down the Contributors to High Inflation
Chien, YiLi; Bennett, Julie (2022-03-28)
Sharp increases in prices of durable and nondurable goods have been behind the recent rise in U.S. inflation.
On the Economy

Pension or 401(k)? Retirement Plan Trends in the U.S. Workplace
Owyang, Michael T.; Bennett, Julie; Hathhorn, Brooke (2025-03-20)
An analysis describes the declining prevalence of defined-benefit pensions in favor of defined-contribution retirement plans in the U.S. workplace over time.
On the Economy

St. Louis Fed Research Associates Discuss Work and Experiences
Bennett, Julie; Grittayaphong, Praew; Isaacson, Maggie (2022-04-26)
RAs help the St. Louis Fed’s staff of economists investigate topics ranging from productivity to unemployment.
On the Economy

Journal Article
Regional Gasoline Price Dynamics
Bennett, Julie; Owyang, Michael T.; Vermann, E. Katarina (2021-07-01)
A large literature has argued that gasoline prices respond more rapidly to increases in oil prices than to decreases in oil prices. Moreover, some of this literature has found heterogeneous asymmetry in gas price responses across cities. Here, we reconsider the causes of heterogeneous asymmetric pass-through. Consistent with the previous literature, we find heterogeneity in the magnitudes of asymmetric pass-through across cities. We also find a large number of cities that exhibit no asymmetries. We then examine whether heterogeneous asymmetry results from city-level differences in (i) the ...
Review , Volume 103 , Issue 3 , Pages 289-314

Journal Article
Decomposing the Low PCE Inflation Rate
Chien, YiLi; Bennett, Julie (2019-10-18)
The current low PCE inflation rate can largely be attributed to energy, health care, and housing.
Economic Synopses , Issue 24