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  4. May 2014
  5. Why Has US Policy Uncertainty Risen since 1960?

Why Has US Policy Uncertainty Risen since 1960?

  • Scott R. Baker
  • Nicholas Bloom
  • Brandice Canes-Wrone
  • Steven J. Davis
  • Jonathan Rodden
American Economic Review
vol. 104, no. 5, May 2014
(pp. 56-60)
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Abstract

We consider two classes of explanations for the rise in policy-related economic uncertainty in the United States since 1960. The first stresses growth in government spending, taxes, and regulation. A second stresses increased political polarization and its implications for the policymaking process and policy choices.

Citation

Baker, Scott R., Nicholas Bloom, Brandice Canes-Wrone, Steven J. Davis, and Jonathan Rodden. 2014. "Why Has US Policy Uncertainty Risen since 1960?" American Economic Review, 104 (5): 56-60. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.5.56

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
  • E23 Macroeconomics: Production
  • E52 Monetary Policy
  • E61 Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
  • E62 Fiscal Policy
  • H50 National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General
  • L51 Economics of Regulation