OPINIONS | April 27, 2026
What Households Think Monetary Policy Does
Standard New Keynesian models tell a clean story about how changes in interest rates affect households. Higher rates raise the real interest rate, leading households to postpone consumption, and slow economic activity enough to soften wage growth and employment, reinforcing the contraction through an income channel. In a recent paper, we use a survey of more than 25,000 U.S. households, combined with randomized information experiments, to ask how Americans believe monetary policy affects them. Read more

April 23, 2026 – April 24, 2026  
Legacy Events Center, CBA 3.202

The Spring Macro Conference, co-hosted with the McCombs School of Business, will take place on April 23–24, 2026. This annual event will feature 10 invited speakers and will attract leading scholars from across the world, expanding UT Austin’s academic reach, creating opportunities for faculty and student engagement, and solidifying The University of Texas at Austin’s reputation as a hub for cutting-edge macroeconomic research.
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