Article: Technology shocks and the business cycle

Chicago Fed Letter

Previous research on the importance of technology shocks in understanding the business cycle emphasized the effects of neutral technological change that affects the production of consumption and investment goods symmetrically. New research shows that investment-- specific, not neutral, technological change, embodied in the investment good itself (a faster computer chip) or in the process for producing it, is a major source of the business cycle.

What drives the ups and downs in the pace of aggregate economic activity we call the business cycle? This is an enduring question with critical implications for determining the best approach to monetary and fiscal policy. The ...

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