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Bartosz Maćkowiak

Research

Division: Monetary Policy Research
Current Position: Lead Economist
Fields of interest: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
Email: bartosz.mackowiak@ecb.europa.eu

Biography

Education: 1996-2002
PhD in Economics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States; 1992-1996
BA in Economics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Professional experience: 2020-
Lead Economist - Monetary Policy Research Division, Directorate General Research, European Central Bank; 2013-
Research Fellow - Centre for Economic Policy Research; 2017-2019
Principal Economist - Monetary Policy Research Division, Directorate General Research, European Central Bank; 2016-2019
Guest Lecturer - London Business School, United Kingdom; 2012-2017
Senior Economist - Monetary Policy Research Division, Directorate General Research, European Central Bank; 2006-2013
Research Affiliate - Centre for Economic Policy Research; 2007-2011
Economist - Monetary Policy Research Division, Directorate General Research, European Central Bank; 2002-2007
Junior Professor - Department of Economics, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

ECB publications

12 May 2025

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 3054

Rational inattention during an RCT

English

Abstract: We introduce an information provision experiment into a standard dynamic rational inattention model. We derive analytical results about how the treatment effect varies with characteristics of the environment and the individual. We use these results to discuss findings in the empirical literature on information provision experiments that can be explained by rational inattention of survey respondents and what this interpretation implies about behavior outside the survey.
JEL Code: D8 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
D9 : Microeconomics→Intertemporal Choice
E7 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

25 September 2023

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2844

Gambling to preserve price (and fiscal) stability

English

Abstract: We study a model in which policy aims at aggregate price stability. A fiscal imbalance materializes that, if uncorrected, must cause inflation, but the imbalance may get corrected in the future with some probability. By maintaining price stability in the near term, monetary policy can buy time for a correction to take place. The policy gamble may succeed, preserving price and fiscal stability, or fail, leading to a delayed, possibly large jump in the price level. The resulting dynamics resemble the models of a currency crisis following Krugman (1979) and Obstfeld (1986). Like in Obstfeld’s work, multiple equilibria arise naturally: whether or not price stability is preserved may depend on private agents’ expectations. The model can be reinterpreted as a model of partial default on public debt, in which case it is reminiscent of Calvo (1988).
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
F31 : International Economics→International Finance→Foreign Exchange
F41 : International Economics→Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance→Open Economy Macroeconomics

4 July 2023

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2827

Rational inattention and the business cycle effects of productivity and news shocks

English

Abstract: We solve a real business cycle model with rational inattention (an RI-RBC model). In the RIRBC model, the growth rates of employment, investment, and output are about as persistent as in the data, with an amount of inattention consistent with survey data on expectations. Moreover, consumption, employment, and output move in the same direction in response to news about future productivity. By contrast, the baseline RBC model produces neither persistent growth rates nor business cycle comovement after news shocks.
JEL Code: D83 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty→Search, Learning, Information and Knowledge, Communication, Belief
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles
E71 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

7 March 2023

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2793

The climate and the economy

English

Abstract: Climate change and the public policies to arrest it are and will continue reshaping the global economy. This Discussion Paper draws on economic research to identify some key medium- and long-run economic implications of these developments. It explores implications for growth, innovation, inflation, financial markets, fiscal policy, and several socio-economic outcomes. The main message that emerges is that climate change will cause income divergence across individuals, sectors, and regions, adjustment in energy markets, increased inflation variability, financial markets stress, intensified innovation, increased migration, and rising public debt. These challenges appear manageable for EU member states, especially under an early and orderly transition scenario. At the same time, the direction, scope, and speed of economic transformation is subject to large uncertainty due to two separate factors: the wide range of climate scenarios for a given trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions and the exact policy path governments choose, especially in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
JEL Code: D6 : Microeconomics→Welfare Economics
E3 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
F2 : International Economics→International Factor Movements and International Business
G2 : Financial Economics→Financial Institutions and Services
O1 : Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth→Economic Development
Q5 : Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Environmental and Ecological Economics→Environmental Economics
Network: Discussion papers

7 March 2023

DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES - No. 22

The climate and the economy

English

Abstract: Climate change and the public policies to arrest it are and will continue reshaping the global economy. This Discussion Paper draws on economic research to identify some key medium- and long-run economic implications of these developments. It explores implications for growth, innovation, inflation, financial markets, fiscal policy, and several socio-economic outcomes. The main message that emerges is that climate change will cause income divergence across individuals, sectors, and regions, adjustment in energy markets, increased inflation variability, financial markets stress, intensified innovation, increased migration, and rising public debt. These challenges appear manageable for EU member states, especially under an early and orderly transition scenario. At the same time, the direction, scope, and speed of economic transformation is subject to large uncertainty due to two separate factors: the wide range of climate scenarios for a given trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions and the exact policy path governments choose, especially in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
JEL Code: D6 : Microeconomics→Welfare Economics
E3 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
F2 : International Economics→International Factor Movements and International Business
G2 : Financial Economics→Financial Institutions and Services
O1 : Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth→Economic Development
Q5 : Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Environmental and Ecological Economics→Environmental Economics

14 February 2023

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2781

Passive monetary policy and active fiscal policy in a monetary union

English

Abstract: How is the price level determined in a monetary union when the common monetary policy pegs the nominal interest rate? How are the price levels in the member countries determined? We extend the ﬁscal theory of the price level to the case of a heterogenous monetary union. Price level determinacy follows if ﬁscal policy at the level of the union as a whole is active. Diﬀerent combinations of national ﬁscal policies and a common ﬁscal policy with “Eurobonds” amount to active ﬁscal policy for the union, but can have very diﬀerent implications for the eﬀects of ﬁscal and monetary policy. We propose how to coordinate the national policies and the common policy for union-wide policy to be active.
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy
F45 : International Economics→Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

21 September 2021

OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES - No. 273

Monetary-fiscal policy interactions in the euro area

English

Abstract: The last review of the ECB’s monetary policy strategy in 2003 followed a period of predominantly upside risks to price stability. Experience following the 2008 financial crisis has focused renewed attention on the question of how monetary and fiscal policy should best interact, in particular in an environment of structurally low interest rates and persistent downside risks to price stability. This debate has been further intensified by the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the euro area, the unique architecture of a monetary union consisting of sovereign Member States, with cross-country heterogeneities and weaknesses in its overall construction, poses important challenges. Against this background, this report revisits monetary-fiscal policy interactions in the euro area from a monetary policy perspective and with a focus on the ramifications for price stability and maintaining central bank independence and credibility. The report consists of three parts. The first chapter presents a conceptual framework for thinking about monetary-fiscal policy interactions, thereby setting the stage for a discussion of specifically euro area aspects and challenges in subsequent parts of the report. In particular, it reviews the main ingredients of the pre-global financial crisis consensus on monetary-fiscal policy interactions and addresses significant new insights and refinements which have gained prominence since 2003. In doing so, the chapter distinguishes between general conceptual aspects – i.e. those aspects that pertain to an environment characterised by a single central bank and a single fiscal authority and those aspects that pertain to an environment characterised by a single central bank and many fiscal authorities (a multi-country monetary union). ...
JEL Code: E52 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit→Monetary Policy
E58 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit→Central Banks and Their Policies
E62 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Fiscal Policy
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy
F45 : International Economics→Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

21 June 2021

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2570

Rational inattention: a review

English

Abstract: We review the recent literature on rational inattention, identify the main theoretical mechanisms, and explain how it helps us understand a variety of phenomena across fields of economics. The theory of rational inattention assumes that agents cannot process all available information, but they can choose which exact pieces of information to attend to. Several important results in economics have been built around imperfect information. Nowadays, many more forms of information than ever before are available due to new technologies, and yet we are able to digest little of it. Which form of imperfect information we possess and act upon is thus largely determined by which information we choose to pay attention to. These choices are driven by current economic conditions and imply behavior that features numerous empirically supported departures from standard models. Combining these insights about human limitations with the optimizing approach of neoclassical economics yields a new, generally applicable model.
JEL Code: D8 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

29 June 2017

RESEARCH BULLETIN - No. 36

Monetary-fiscal interactions and the euro area’s vulnerability

English

Abstract: When monetary and fiscal policy are conducted as in the euro area, self-fulfilling expectations of economic agents can lead to undesirable fluctuations in output, inflation and government bond spreads. An alternative policy arrangement would enable more effective macroeconomic stabilisation.
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy

9 June 2017

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2072

Monetary-fiscal interactions and the euro area's malaise

English

Abstract: When monetary and fiscal policy are conducted as in the euro area, output, inﬂation, and government bond default premia are indeterminate according to a standard general equilibrium model with sticky prices extended to include defaultable public debt. With sunspots, the model mimics the recent euro area data. We specify an alternative conﬁguration of monetary and ﬁscal policy, with a non-defaultable eurobond. If this policy arrangement had been in place since the onset of the Great Recession, output could have been much higher than in the data with inﬂation in line with the ECB’s objective.
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy

31 January 2017

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 2007

The rational inattention filter

English

Abstract: Dynamic rational inattention problems used to be difficult to solve. This paper provides simple, analytical results for dynamic rational inattention problems. We start from the benchmark rational inattention problem. An agent tracks a variable of interest that follows a Gaussian process. The agent chooses how to pay attention to this variable. The agent aims to minimize, say, the mean squared error subject to a constraint on information flow, as in Sims (2003). We prove that if the variable of interest follows an ARMA(p,q) process, the optimal signal is about a linear combination of {X_t,…,X_t-p+1} and {ε_t,…, ε_t-q+1}, where X_t denotes the variable of interest and ε_t denotes its period t innovation. The optimal signal weights can be computed from a simple extension of the Kalman filter: the usual Kalman filter equations in combination with first-order conditions for the optimal signal weights. We provide several analytical results regarding those signal weights. We also prove the equivalence of several different formulations of the information flow constraint. We conclude with general equilibrium applications from Macroeconomics.
JEL Code: D83 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty→Search, Learning, Information and Knowledge, Communication, Belief
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles

15 December 2016

DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES - No. 2

Macroeconomic stabilization, monetary-fiscal interactions, and Europe’s monetary union

English

Abstract: The euro area has been experiencing a prolonged period of weak economic activity and very low inflation. This paper reviews models of business cycle stabilization with an eye to formulating lessons for policy in the euro area. According to standard models, after a large recessionary shock accommodative monetary and fiscal policy together may be necessary to stabilize economic activity and inflation. The paper describes practical ways for the euro area to be able to implement an effective monetary-fiscal policy mix.
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E62 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Fiscal Policy
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy

15 December 2016

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1988

Macroeconomic stabilization, monetary-fiscal interactions, and Europe’s monetary union

English

Abstract: The euro area has been experiencing a prolonged period of weak economic activity and very low inflation. This paper reviews models of business cycle stabilization with an eye to formulating lessons for policy in the euro area. According to standard models, after a large recessionary shock accommodative monetary and fiscal policy together may be necessary to stabilize economic activity and inflation. The paper describes practical ways for the euro area to be able to implement an effective monetary-fiscal policy mix.
JEL Code: E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E62 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Fiscal Policy
E63 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Stabilization, Treasury Policy
Network: Discussion papers

21 August 2015

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1841

Inattention to rare events

English

Abstract: The world recently experienced several rare events with disastrous consequences: the global financial crisis, the European sovereign debt crisis, and the Fukushima nuclear accident. These events have in common that key decision-makers were unprepared for them, which aggravated these events. We develop a model in which agents make state-contingent plans
JEL Code: D83 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty→Search, Learning, Information and Knowledge, Communication, Belief
E58 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit→Central Banks and Their Policies
E60 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook→General

16 October 2013

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1600

Granger-causal-priority and choice of variables in vector autoregressions

English

Abstract: A researcher is interested in a set of variables that he wants to model with a vector auto-regression and he has a dataset with more variables. Which variables from the dataset to include in the VAR, in addition to the variables of interest? This question arises in many applications of VARs, in prediction and impulse response analysis. We develop a Bayesian methodology to answer this question. We rely on the idea of Granger-causal-priority, related to the well-known concept of Granger-non-causality. The methodology is simple to use, because we provide closed-form expressions for the relevant posterior probabilities. Applying the methodology to the case when the variables of interest are output, the price level, and the short-term interest rate, we find remarkably similar results for the United States and the euro area.
JEL Code: C32 : Mathematical and Quantitative Methods→Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models, Multiple Variables→Time-Series Models, Dynamic Quantile Regressions, Dynamic Treatment Effect Models, Diffusion Processes
C52 : Mathematical and Quantitative Methods→Econometric Modeling→Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles

20 April 2011

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1331

Business cycle dynamics under rational inattention

English

Abstract: We develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with rational inattention by households and firms. Consumption responds slowly to interest rate changes because households decide to pay little attention to the real interest rate. Prices respond quickly to some shocks and slowly to other shocks. The mix of fast and slow responses of prices to shocks matches the pattern found in the empirical literature. Changes in the conduct of monetary policy yield very different outcomes than in models currently used at central banks because systematic changes in policy cause reallocation of attention by decision-makers in households and firms.
JEL Code: D83 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty→Search, Learning, Information and Knowledge, Communication, Belief
E31 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Price Level, Inflation, Deflation
E32 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles→Business Fluctuations, Cycles
E52 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit→Monetary Policy

19 February 2009

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1009

Optimal sticky prices under rational inattention

English

Abstract: This paper presents a model in which price setting firms decide what to pay attention to, subject to a constraint on information flow. When idiosyncratic conditions are more variable or more important than aggregate conditions, firms pay more attention to idiosyncratic conditions than to aggregate conditions. When we calibrate the model to match the large average absolute size of price changes observed in micro data, prices react fast and by large amounts to idiosyncratic shocks, but prices react only slowly and by small amounts to nominal shocks. Nominal shocks have strong and persistent real effects. We use the model to investigate how the optimal allocation of attention and the dynamics of prices depend on the firms’ environment.
JEL Code: E3 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
E5 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
D8 : Microeconomics→Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

12 November 2008

WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 960

On implications of micro price data for macro models

English

Abstract: We review the recent literature that studies new, detailed micro data on prices. We discuss implications of the new micro data for macro models. We argue that the new micro data are helpful for macro models, but not decisive. There is no simple mapping from the frequency of price changes in micro data to impulse responses of prices and quantities to shocks. We discuss ideas that promise to deliver macro models matching the impulse responses seen in macro data while being broadly in line with micro data.
JEL Code: E3 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
E5 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

External publications

2025

American Economic Review: Insights

Rational inattention during an RCT

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2025

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics

Fiscal backing for price stability in a monetary union

Maćkowiak, B. and Schmidt, S.

2025

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics

Rational inattention and the business cycle effects of productivity and news shocks

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2024

IMF Economic Review

Gambling to preserve price (and fiscal) stability

Corsetti, G. and Maćkowiak, B.

2023

Journal of Economic Literature

Rational inattention: A review

Maćkowiak, B., Matejka, F. and Wiederholt M.

2019

European Journal of Political Economy

Macroeconomic stabilization, monetary-fiscal interactions, and Europe’s Monetary Union

Corsetti, G., Dedola, L., Jarociński, M., Maćkowiak, B., Schmidt S.

2018

Journal of Economic Theory

Dynamic rational inattention: Analytical results

Maćkowiak, B., Matejka, F. and Wiederholt M.

2018

Journal of International Economics

Monetary-fiscal interactions and the euro area's malaise

Jarociński, M. and Maćkowiak, B.

2018

Journal of Monetary Economics

Lack of preparation for rare events

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2017

Review of Economics and Statistics

Granger causal priority and choice of variables in vector autoregressions

Jarociński, M. and Maćkowiak, B.

2015

Review of Economic Studies

Business cycle dynamics under rational inattention

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2012

American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings

Information processing and limited liability

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2009

Journal of Monetary Economics

Sectoral price data and models of price setting

Maćkowiak, B., Moench, E. and Wiederholt, M.

2009

American Economic Review

Optimal sticky prices under rational inattention

Maćkowiak, B. and Wiederholt, M.

2007

Journal of Monetary Economics

External shocks, U.S. monetary policy and macroeconomic fluctuations in emerging markets

Maćkowiak, B.

2007

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control

Macroeconomic regime switches and speculative attacks

Maćkowiak, B.

2006

Comparative Economic Studies

How much of the macroeconomic variation in Eastern Europe is attributable to external shocks?

Maćkowiak, B.

2006

Journal of International Economics

What does the Bank of Japan do to East Asia?

Maćkowiak, B.

2006

European Economic Review

Fiscal imbalances and the dynamics of currency crises

Corsetti, G. and Maćkowiak, B.

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Bartosz Maćkowiak

Research

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