Households’ expectations for inflation often deviate from the officially recorded inflation rates. As part of the Bundesbank Invited Speakers Series, Michael Weber, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, expressed his view that the public’s perceptions are chiefly shaped by their shopping experiences or their family and friends rather than by classic media. He went on to discuss with Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel what this means for central bank communication and monetary policy. The panel was moderated by Falko Fecht, Head of the Bundesbank’s Research Centre.

“The better society is informed about financial topics, the better we, as central banks, can explain our monetary policy decisions,” Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said at the opening of the Bundesbank’s euro pavilion. This converted event space at the Bundesbank’s Central Office in the heart of Frankfurt adds to the Bank’s existing outreach activities to engage and interact with interested members of the general public.

Writing in an op-ed piece in the German “Handelsblatt” newspaper, Sabine Mauderer, First Deputy Governor of the Bundesbank, has underlined the importance of an autonomous Europe in times of geopolitical tensions. That autonomy will only succeed with a strong German economy, she explained. “Firms need to be able to rely on funding from a European financial ecosystem, especially when they have to navigate challenging geopolitical times.”

How does central bank communication affect the economy? Artificial intelligence provides new insights: the Monetary-Intelligent Language Agent (MILA) model developed at the Bundesbank analyses monetary policy statements and assesses the signals they send out – from restrictive to accommodative. This presents promising opportunities for better shaping monetary policy messaging. But AI-assisted analyses also pose inherent risks, such as diminishing diversity of opinion.