Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Allison Kaminaga
Second Faculty Advisor
Laura Beaudin
Keywords
economics; monetary policy; unemployment
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC-BY-SA
Abstract
While great strides have been made in America’s pursuit of racial and gender equality, there is still a clear gap in terms of economic success (Carpenter & Rodgers, 2004). Current research has shown that one factor that could be contributing to this is the adverse effects that contractionary monetary policies designed to achieve a 2% average inflation rate has on these groups in the labor market (Seguino & Heintz, 2012). Existing literature suggests this is because of their lower attachment rate to their jobs, jobs that are more likely to be eliminated when interest rates increase. This research will seek to synthesize existing literature with economic data to better understand what these effects are and what their underlying causes may be.
