Articles providing critical insights and analysis on monetary policy issues impacting the U.S. economy and its deep financial and economic relationship with Mexico.
Mexico Economic Update
Mexico’s economic growth surprises to the upside
The Mexican economy expanded an annualized 4.4 percent in the third quarter, according to official preliminary data. Output in both the services and goods-producing sectors increased, and heavy rainfall during the quarter helped the agricultural sector recover.
December 24, 2024
Mexico nearshoring yet to yield big investment despite global trade tensions
The resulting reality surrounding nearshoring’s impact on Mexico’s economy is nuanced. While Mexico has made gains, many of them stem from trade diversion rather than large-scale foreign capital relocation.
December 05, 2024
Research Department Working Papers
Real Exchange Rates and the Global Financial Cycle
This paper looks at the effect of fluctuations in the global financial cycle on real exchange rates.
November 26, 2024
Research Department Working Papers
The Problem of Quality Change in Historical Price Statistics: An Illustrative Example Using Baedeker Travel Guides
This paper uses a novel dataset on the prices of the travel guidebooks published by the German publishing house Baedeker between 1832 and 1944 to construct a hedonic price index for guidebooks. Comparing these indexes to the list prices of these guidebooks, the paper shows that the failure to adjust for improvements in the quality of the guidebooks over time imparts a substantial upward bias to measured inflation.
November 26, 2024
More household savings offset increased government borrowing since 2008
Large government budget deficits over the past 15 years have led to a large increase in the stock of government debt. But these government deficits have been matched by an increase in U.S. household savings.
November 26, 2024
Blame higher U.S. equity prices for recent moves in U.S. external liabilities
The U.S. net foreign asset position—the value of foreign assets held by U.S. residents minus the value of U.S. assets held by foreign residents—has fallen sharply since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
November 12, 2024
Research Department Working Papers
What Imports to Import Prices?
This study offers new insights into exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) using U.S. import price indexes by country-of-origin, covering two decades of monthly data.
October 25, 2024
Mexico Economic Update
Mexico’s economy shows mixed signals
Mexico’s economy continued growing steadily through August, according to the monthly GDP proxy. However, a weakening labor market and stalled consumption are signs of deceleration going into the fourth quarter.
October 25, 2024
International factors broadly explain postpandemic inflation
The recent co-movement of inflation across countries, including the U.S., can be explained in part by global and regional factors. Policymakers, who have tended to more closely look closer to home may want to more broadly consider global events and pressures when addressing changing inflation pressures.
October 22, 2024
Research Department Working Papers
The Postpandemic U.S. Immigration Surge: New Facts and Inflationary Implications
To determine the impact of the postpandemic U.S. immigration surge, the authors first document the salient features of these new immigrants: they are primarily low-skilled relative to the existing workforce and more likely to be hand-to-mouth consumers. They then incorporate these features into a heterogeneous agent model with capital-skill complementarity.
October 01, 2024