Biography
Vaishali Garga is an economist in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department. She joined the Boston Fed in 2019 after earning her PhD in economics from Brown University. Garga works primarily in macroeconomics, with a focus on monetary and fiscal policy over the business cycle, price-setting and inflation dynamics, and monetary policy transmission in developed and emerging economies.
Garga has an MA in economics from Brown University and a BA from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi.
Work Experience
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Economist, 2019–
Education
PhD, Economics, Brown University, 2019
MA, Economics, Brown University, 2014
BA, Honors Economics, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, 2013
Primary fields of research
Macroeconomics, monetary economics, economic growth
Publications
Refereed journal articles
“The Mitigating Effect of Masks on the Spread of COVID-19,” with Daniel H. Cooper, María José Luengo-Prado, and Jenny Tang. 2023. Economics & Human Biology Vol. 48, Article No. 101195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101195
“Consumption Spending and Inequality during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with Christopher D. Cotton and Justin Rohan. 2021. COVID Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers 83(July 2, 2021): 116–153.
“Output Hysteresis and Optimal Monetary Policy,” with Sanjay R. Singh. 2021. Journal of Monetary Economics 117(January 2021): 871–886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2020.06.005
“Sticky Prices versus Sticky Information: Does It Matter for Policy Paradoxes?” with Gauti Eggertsson. 2019. Review of Economic Dynamics 31(January 2019): 363–392.
Working papers
“Productivity Improvements and Markup Normalization Can Support Further Wage Gains without Inflationary Pressures,” with Giovanni P. Olivei and J. Christina Wang. 2024. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives 24-5.
“The Distribution of Sectoral Price Changes and Recent Inflation Developments,” with Christopher D. Cotton, Giovanni P. Olivei, and Viacheslav Sheremirov. 2023. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives, August 30, 2023.
“What Is Driving Inflation—Besides the Usual Culprits?” with Christopher D. Cotton. 2023. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. July 13, 2023.
“Assessing Central Bank Commitment to Inflation Targeting: Evidence from Financial Market Expectations in India,” with Aeimit Lakdawala and Rajeswari Sengupta. 2022. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 22-19. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2022.19
“The Role of Industrial Composition in Driving the Frequency of Price Change,” with Christopher D. Cotton. 2022. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 22-9. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2022.09
“Impact of Occupational Unemployment Risk on Household Spending,” with Christopher D. Cotton and Justin Rohan. 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 22-7. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2022.07
“The Mortgage Cash Flow Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission: A Tale of Two Countries,” with Daniel Cooper and María José Luengo-Prado. 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 21-8. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2021.08
“Consumption Spending during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with Christopher D. Cotton and Justin Rohan. 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. December 3, 2021.
“Consumption Heterogeneity by Occupation: Understanding the Impact of Occupation on Personal Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with Christopher D. Cotton and Justin Rohan. 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 20-16. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2020.16
“The Roles of Mobility and Masks in the Spread of COVID-19,” with Daniel Cooper, María José Luengo-Prado, and Jenny Tang. 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. December 18, 2020.
“Fiscal Expansions in the Era of Low Real Interest Rates.” 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 20-11. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2020.11
“Output Hysteresis and Optimal Monetary Policy” with Sanjay R. Singh. 2019. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 19-19.
“Fiscal Expansions in Secular Stagnation: What If It Isn’t Secular?” 2018.