Marleau Signature Lecture Monetary Policy for the Masses with Aggregate and Household-Specific Risks

The Marleau Signature Lecture 2025 will be delivered by Jim Bullard, a distinguished American economist and leader in monetary policy. He served as the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 2008 to 2023, becoming the longest serving sitting president of Federal Reserve Bank. His tenure as president was marked by his advocacy for data-driven and regime-dependent monetary strategies.Known for his research-based thinking and intellectual openness to new ideas, Bullard was an early advocate for economic change, making him a pivotal voice of the Federal Reserve when navigating complex economic landscapes such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis.

Bullard earned a Ph.D. in economics from Indiana University and has also contributed extensively to monetary theory and policy through publications in prestigious journals such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of Monetary Economics, or the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.

Recognized as one of the most market-moving FOMC members during his career, Bullard transitioned to academia in 2023, becoming the Dean of Purdue University’s Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business. He continues to influence economic discourse through public speaking, media engagements, and his ability to simplify and communicate complex economic topics for the public.

Do simple, standard monetary policy recommendations continue to make sense when macroeconomics takes income and wealth inequality seriously?  The lecture will study an important case where the answer is “yes.”  It will show that increasing realism with respect to income and wealth inequality does not change core recommendations concerning optimal monetary policy developed in the literature during the last 25 years and in use by most central banks today.