Who influences whom? Central bankers and academics in the 2008 crisis

Abstract

Who influenced whom during the 2008 crisis? Did academic economists shape central bankers’ attitudes towards fiscal policy, or did central bankers impose their agenda? In an attempt to answer these questions, we analyse established attitudes and yearly topics found in speeches by bankers from six central banks and in working papers published by academic economists. Methodologically, both attitudes and topics are reconstructed through textual analysis. The results show that context matters.