The estimates for the relationship between unemployment and interest rates also yield an interesting pattern, varying systematically over the business cycle. The negative relationship is much stronger during periods of labor market weakness. This could show that households believe policy varies depending on the economy, or it could simply show that households become more attentive to how the policy rate and unemployment are related during economic downturns.
Monetary policy and survey answers between 1978 and 1986
Another way to judge if households are aware of how monetary policy is conducted is to view Michigan survey data from before 1987, that is, before the relationships described by the Taylor rule came to be seen as a good proxy for U.S. monetary policy.
Actual data from 1978 to 1986 in the bottom panel of Table 1 show a positive relationship between interest rates, but a much weaker relationship not significantly different from zero between interest rates and unemployment. Comparing the relationships from the two periods in the top and bottom panels indicates that the role of unemployment changed. While the relationship between interest rates and inflation is positive in both periods, the relationship between interest rates and unemployment only turns strongly negative after 1987. Turning to the Michigan survey data, the estimated results in the bottom of Table 1 show a positive relationship of interest rates with both inflation and unemployment for lower and for higher income households.
The survey results suggest that higher income households seem to have perceived the changes in the actual data. Comparing data from before and after 1987 indicates that these households may have grasped how monetary policy changed between these two periods. In particular, higher income households seem to have perceived the change in the role of unemployment in monetary policy.
Conclusion
Some households appear to hold beliefs consistent with basic features of U.S. monetary policy. In particular, during times of economic slack households with higher incomes seem to form expectations in accordance with a Taylor rule.
Does this mean that they understand monetary policy? The answer is not entirely clear. Households may simply base their expectations on patterns from their own experiences, rather than attempting to predict future policy decisions. In that case they might respond as if they understand monetary policy. Alternatively, while some groups of households understand monetary policy, they may find forecasting time-consuming and costly; thus, they only think about economic policy when doing so is particularly important, such as at times when the labor market is weak and unemployment makes headlines.
Regardless of what drives the business cycle variation in Michigan survey responses, we can conclude that some people’s beliefs have changed as U.S. monetary policy has evolved. This suggests some households, particularly those with higher income and more education, understand how inflation, unemployment, and interest rates are related as if they had some basic understanding of U.S. monetary policy.