This report is an empirical inquiry into how poverty is changed by the macroeconomy. The analysis suggests low real wage rates and not the unemployment rate are the most important determinant of poverty in the long run. Changes in output and unemployment primarily affect cyclical or shortun...

We estimate the effects of oil price changes on inflation for the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan using an augmented Phillips curve framework. We supplement the traditional Phillips curve approach taking into account the growing body of evidence suggesting that oil...

Food assistance programs, particularly the Food Stamp Program, increase food spending and household income. In 2004, adding food stamp benefits to recipients’ incomes raised 9 percent of recipients out of poverty. Nutritional effects of food assistance programs are uncertain.