The Transmission of Monetary Policy through Redistributions and Durables Purchases

Using a tractable OLG model with government debt, we study a redistribution channel for the transmission of monetary policy. Expansionary open-market operations generate a negative wealth effect, increasing households’ incentives to save and pushing down the real interest rate. This leads to a substitution towards durables, generating a temporary boom in the durable-good sector. With search and matching frictions, the fall in interest rates causes an increase in labor demand, raising aggregate employment. The model mimics the empirical responses of key macroeconomic variables to monetary policy interventions. The fiscal policy stance plays a key role in the transmission mechanism.