The (Ir)Relevance of Rule‐of‐Thumb Consumers for U.S. Business Cycle Fluctuations

Abstract

Abstract We estimate a medium‐scale model with and without rule‐of‐thumb consumers over the pre‐Volcker and the Great Moderation periods, allowing for indeterminacy. Passive monetary policy and sunspot fluctuations characterize the pre‐Volcker period for both models. In both subsamples, the estimated fraction of rule‐of‐thumb consumers is low, such that the two models are empirically almost equivalent; they yield very similar impulse response functions, variance, and historical decompositions. We conclude that rule‐of‐thumb consumers are irrelevant to explain aggregate U.S. business cycle fluctuations.

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