Monetary Policy

My monetary policy research has particularly focused on both issues of institutional design such as committee structures, and also the role of communication as a policy tool.

Business Cycles

My work involves examining the nature and driving forces of economic cycles. In particular the role of the financial sector in the cycle and the importance of inventories.

Fiscal Policy

I have also examined the a number of aspects of fiscal policy. The majority of this work has made use of household panel data.

Monetary Policy

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Published Papers

  1. The public economist: learning from our Citizens’ Panels about the UK economy. Andreas Joseph, Jenny Lam, and Michael McMahon. Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, 61(4):1–1, 2021.
  2. Extracting Economic Signals from Central Bank Speeches. Maximilian Ahrens and Michael McMahon. 2021. In Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Economics and Natural Language Processing, pages 93–114, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, November 2021. Association for Computational Linguistics.
  3. The 3 E’s of Central Bank Communication with the Public. Andrew Haldane, Alistair Macaulay, and Michael McMahon. In Ernesto Pastén and Ricardo Reis, editors, Independence, Credibility, and Communication of Central Banking, pages 279–342. Banco Central de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2021.
  4. The Long-Run Information Effect of Central Bank Communication. Stephen Hansen, Michael McMahon, and Matthew Tong. 2019. Journal of Monetary Economics, Forthcoming. Publication version is slightly shorter and is here.
  5. Monetary Policy Communication: Frameworks and Market Impact. Michael McMahon, Alfred Schipke and Xiang Li, 2018. Chapter 14 in The Future of China's Bond Market. USA: International Monetary Fund.
  6. Central Bank Communication and the General Public. Andy Haldane and Michael McMahon. 2018. AEA Papers and Proceedings,
    Vol. 108, May 2018, pp. 578-83. Video of the AEA session.  Materials related to the paper.
  7. How central bank communication generates market news. Stephen Hansen and Michael McMahon. 2018. Chapter 15 of VoxEU Book: Hawks and Doves: Deeds and Words - Economics and Politics of Monetary Policymaking edited by Sylvester Eijffinger and Donato Masciandaro.
  8. Transparency and Deliberation within the FOMC: A Computational Linguistics Approach. Stephen Hansen, Michael McMahon, and Andrea Prat. 2018. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 133, Issue 2, 1 May 2018, Pages 801–870. (Technical Appendix)
  9. Perils of Unconventional Monetary Policy. Michael McMahon, Herakles Polemarchakis, and Udara Peiris. 2018.  The Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Volume 93, August 2018, Pages 92-114.
  10. First Impressions Matter: Signalling as a Source of Policy Dynamics. Stephen Hansen and Michael McMahon. The Review of Economic Studies, 83(4):1645–1672, 2016.
  11. Shocking language: Understanding the macroeconomic effects of central bank communication. Stephen Hansen and Michael McMahon. Journal of International Economics, 99(S1):S114–S133, 2016.
  12. The implications of Brexit for the City. Michael McMahon. In Richard Baldwin, editor, Brexit Beckons: Thinking Ahead by Leading Economists, VoxEU eBook. VoxEU, August 2016.
  13. Estimating Bayesian Decision Problems with Heterogeneous Expertise. Stephen Hansen, Michael McMahon, and Sorawoot Srisuma. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 31(4):762–771, June/July 2016.
  14. How Experts Decide: Preferences or Private Assessments on a Monetary Policy Committee? Stephen Hansen, Michael McMahon, and Carlos Velasco. Journal of Monetary Economics, October 2014.

Work in Progress

  1. Monetary Policymakers' Uncertainty. Anna Cieslak, Stephen Hansen and McMahon. Work in Progress.
  2. Getting through: communicating complex central bank messages. Michael McMahon and Matthew Naylor. 2023. Work in Progress.
  3. The Central Bank Crystal Ball: Temporal information in monetary policy communication, David Byrne, Robert Goodhead, Michael McMahon, and Conor Parle. 2022. Work in Progress.
  4. Element(s) of Surprise. Michael McMahon and Timothy Munday. 2022. Work in Progress.
  5. Uncertainty and Time-Varying Monetary Policy. Michael McMahon and Timothy Munday. 2022. Work in Progress.
  6. The MPC’s monetary communications: Children of the revolution(s). Delia Macaluso and Michael McMahon. 2022. Work in Progress.
  7. Central Bank Forecast Performance and Inflation Updating. Michael McMahon and Ryan Rholes. 2022. Work in Progress.

Older Work

  1. QE and the Bank Lending Channel in the United Kingdom. Nick Butt, Rohan Churm, Michael McMahon, Arpad Morotz, and Jochen Schanz. 2015. Revise and Resubmit, The Economic Journal.

Presentations and Discussions

  1. "Central Bank Communication". Presentation at PhD Course on Subjective Beliefs in Macroeconomics and Household Finance at CEBI, Copenhagen.
  2. "Information, Shocks and Market Beliefs: The Effects of Central Bank Communication". Keynote talk given at the European Commission's Big Data and Economic Forecasting Conference 2021.
SLOOS

Business Cycles

Work in Progress

  1. Beyond Pangloss: Financial sector origins of inefficient economic booms. Frederic Malherbe and Michael McMahon. 2020. In submission. Online Appendix.
  2. Inventories in Motion: A New Approach to Inventories of the Business Cycle. Michael McMahon. 2014. Being Prepared For Submission.
  3. Beyond Inventory Management: The Bullwhip Effect and the Great Moderation. Michael McMahon and Boromeus Wanengkirtyo. 2014. Being Prepared For Submission.

Older Work

  1. Understanding the macroeconomic effects of working capital in the United Kingdom. Emilio Fernandez-Corugedo, Michael McMahon, Stephen Millard, and Lukasz Rachel. 2012. Revise and Resubmit, The Economic Journal.

 

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Fiscal Policy

Published Papers

  1. ‘Sound Finances’: Strategy or Soundbite. Michael McMahon. National Institute Economic Review, 241(1):R13–R32, 2017.
  2. The Household Effects of Government Spending. Francesco Giavazzi and Michael McMahon. In Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, NBER Chapters, pages 103–141. National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, October 2012.
  3. Policy Uncertainty and Household Savings. Francesco Giavazzi and Michael McMahon. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(2):517–531, May 2012.

Work in Progress

  1. The Distributional Effects of Government Spending. Francesco Giavazzi and Michael McMahon. 2013. Work in Progress.
  2. How fiscally conservative are US voters? Francesco Giavazzi and Michael McMahon. 2013. Work in Progress.
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Published Comments

Comment on “Technology-Hours Redux: Tax Changes and the Measurement of Technology Shocks”; by Karel Mertens and Morten O. Ravn. Michael McMahon. In NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2010, NBER Chapters, pages 77–86. National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, October 2010.

Comment on “Saving and Cohabitation: The Economic Consequences of Living with One’s Parents in Italy and the Netherlands”; by Rob Alessie, Agar Brugiavini and Guglielmo Weber. Michael McMahon. In NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2004, NBER Chapters, pages 446–457. National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, October 2006.