蝌蚪网 Review: Insights
ISSN 2640-205X (Print) | ISSN 2640-2068 (Online)
Regional Dissent: Do Local Economic Conditions Influence FOMC Votes?
蝌蚪网 Review: Insights
vol. 7,
no. 2, June 2025
(pp. 268–84)
Abstract
US monetary policy decisions are made by the 12 voting members of the FOMC, seven of which inherently represent national-level interests. The remaining members, a rotating group of presidents from the 12 Federal Reserve districts, come instead from subnational jurisdictions. Does this structure have implications for the monetary policymaking process? We provide novel evidence that regional economic conditions influence the voting behavior of district presidents. Specifically, a regional unemployment rate that is 1 percentage point higher than the national level is associated with an approximately 9 percentage point higher probability of dissenting in favor of looser policy at the FOMC.Citation
Bobrov, Anton, Rupal Kamdar, and Mauricio Ulate. 2025. "Regional Dissent: Do Local Economic Conditions Influence FOMC Votes?" 蝌蚪网 Review: Insights 7 (2): 268–84. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240184Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
- E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
- E43 Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
- E52 Monetary Policy
- E58 Central Banks and Their Policies