Volatile Pay Harms Hourly Workers
Changing labor demands create large earnings fluctuations.
Volatile Pay Harms Hourly WorkersAcademic Areas Macroeconomics Faculty and Research
The macroeconomics academic area at Chicago Booth includes world-class researchers who are generating insights into many of the most critical economic issues of today, including price setting, labor economics, monetary policy, and how economic agents cope with changing environments.
In addition to being a part of the National Bureau of Economic Research, macroeconomics faculty at Booth have played key roles in government and advised world leaders. Steven J. Davis serves as an advisor to the US Congressional Budget Office. Randall S. Kroszner served as a governor of the Federal Reserve System and took a leading role in developing responses to the 2008 financial crisis. Anil K Kashyap serves on the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee.
The research of our macroeconomics faculty is published regularly in the leading economic journals, including the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy. Our macroeconomics professors regularly receive some of the most prestigious awards in this area, including the Bernácer Prize, the Carlo Alberto Medal, and Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships.
From the New York Times and the Economist to NPR and the Washington Post, major media outlets regularly look to our macroeconomics professors to provide clarity to today’s topical issues, including the labor market, unemployment, and inflation.
Macroeconomics Faculty
Students can expect a number of innovative courses from our macroeconomics faculty.
Courses such as The Wealth of Nations use quantitative analytical frameworks and case studies to examine the role of institutional factors on the performance of firms in emerging markets versus wealthy countries. Other courses such as Advanced Macroeconomics take an applied approach, covering topics that are organized around the impact of the pandemic on the macroeconomy.
Discover more about our macroeconomics faculty, including the classes they teach, below.
Featured Research in Chicago Booth Review
Discover some of the latest research from our macroeconomics professors.
Why Central Banks May Need to Accept Some Inflation
A tariff-induced shock could create a conundrum for monetary policy.
Why Central Banks May Need to Accept Some Inflation
How Inflation Makes the Labor Market Appear Hot
In recent years, wages stagnated while corporations reaped record profits.
How Inflation Makes the Labor Market Appear Hot
Awards and Honors
Veronica Guerrieri is a recipient of the 2015 Bernácer Prize—a prestigious honor given annually to European economists under the age of 40 who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of macroeconomics and finance.
Guerrieri was noted “for her influential research contributions regarding the application of search theory to explain the emergence of illiquidity and fire sales in different asset markets.”
Awards and Honors
Research with Impact
In research published with the support of the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics, Booth’s Erik Hurst and Chang-Tai Hsieh quantify—for the first time—the impact of reduced labor market discrimination on the performance of the aggregate economy. In their estimation, between 1960 and 2010, up to 40 percent of the output per person is explained by the more productive allocation of talent.
Learn More about This Research
Research with ImpactOur MBA Concentrations in This Area
Our PhD Dissertation Areas in This Area
Joint Program in Financial Economics
Conduct research at the intersection of finance and economics in collaboration with faculty whose insights have shaped both fields.
Joint Program in Financial Economics
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Macroeconomics Faculty in the News
More factories. More jobs. Will Trump’s tariff promises pan out?
June 29, 2025 | USA Today
“When you expected to see the employment gains and reshoring the administration was talking about, there is not much evidence of that,” says Chicago Booth’s Rodrigo Adao of Trump’s first-term tariffs. “That puts a little bit of a question mark going forward.”
What if the U.S. just deleted government spending from GDP?
March 3, 2025 | Marketplace
Chicago Booth’s Guido Lorenzoni said if the U.S. were to delete government spending from gross domestic produce reports, it would likely be a publicity stunt.
Will politics or economics win out in 2024?
January 25, 2024 | Financial Times
Booth’s Elisa Rubbo has developed a “Divine Coincidence index” that tracks supply shocks alongside demand swings in inflation forecasts to better model current economic realities.
Partnering across the University of Chicago and Beyond
Our macroeconomics faculty are active in and outside of the University of Chicago. Every macroeconomics faculty member is an affiliate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In addition:
- Veronica Guerrieri is a managing editor of the Review of Economic Studies and the codirector of the Macroeconomic Research Initiative at the Becker Friedman Institute.
- Lars Peter Hansen has a joint appointment with Booth and the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago.
- Erik Hurst is the deputy director of the Becker Friedman Institute.
- Brent Neiman is the faculty director of the International Economics Initiative at the Becker Friedman Institute.
Apply to Faculty Positions
Learn more about applying to our open faculty positions and joining the world-renowned faculty at Booth.
Apply to Faculty Positions
Learn About Our Research Workshops
Our research workshops provide a forum for faculty, PhD students, and invited guests to present, discuss, and debate new research.
Learn About Our Research WorkshopsResearch Spotlight
Discover some of the latest working papers and published papers from our macroeconomics faculty.
“The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms”
Christina Patterson, with coauthors David Autor (MIT and National Bureau of Economic Research), David Dorn (University of Zurich and Centre for Economic Policy Research), Lawrence F. Katz (Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research), and John Van Reenen (MIT and London School of Economics)
“The Cost of Privacy: Welfare Effects of the Disclosure of COVID-19 Cases”
Chang-Tai Hsieh, with coauthors David Argente (Pennsylvania State University) and Munseob Lee (University of California at San Diego)
“Slow Household Deleveraging”
Veronica Guerrieri, with coauthors Guido Lorenzoni (Northwestern) and Marta Prato (University of Chicago)
Research Centers in This Area
Research centers across Booth and the University of Chicago are hubs for innovation and world-changing research. The centers provide our faculty with research support, and our faculty members lend their expertise to the centers, enriching the student experience and the broader academic community at Booth.
Becker Friedman Institute for Economics
Reporting to the Office of the Provost, the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics fosters novel insights on the world’s most difficult economic problems, bringing together researchers from the entire Chicago economics community.
Becker Friedman Institute for Economics
Center for Research in Security Prices, LLC
An affiliate of Chicago Booth, CRSP, LLC is the leading provider of historical stock market data for researchers. The center has long been an integral part of the academic and commercial world of financial and economic research.
Center for Research in Security Prices, LLC
George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State
The Stigler Center confronts conventional thinking and investigates the obstacles preventing markets from being truly competitive.
George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State
Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets
The Clark Center for Global Markets organizes Booth faculty efforts to influence public policy and the practice of business around the world. By hosting expert panels, visiting thought leaders, and conferences, the Clark Center raises the impact of Booth research.
Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets