This paper aims at an improved understanding of the relationship between monetary policy and racial inequality. We investigate the distributional effects of monetary policy in a unified framework, linking monetary policy shocks both to earnings and wealth differentials between Black and white households. Specifically, we show that, although an accommodative monetary policy shock increases employment for Black households more than for white households, the overall effects on earnings are small. At the same time, an accommodative monetary policy shock has large effects on the wealth difference between Black and white households, because Black households own fewer assets that appreciate in value. This suggests an important trade-off if policymakers aim to reduce racial inequalities.

本文旨在加深对货币政策与种族不平等之间关系的理解。我们在一个统一的框架内调查货币政策的分配效应，将货币政策冲击与黑人和白人家庭之间的收入和财富差异联系起来。具体而言，我们表明，尽管宽松的货币政策冲击增加了黑人家庭的就业机会多于白人家庭，但对收入的总体影响很小。与此同时，宽松的货币政策冲击对黑人和白人家庭之间的财富差异有很大影响，因为黑人家庭拥有的增值资产较少。如果政策制定者旨在减少种族不平等，这表明一个重要的权衡。