전체기사 최신뉴스 GAM
KYD 디데이
글로벌

속보

더보기

윌리엄 풀 총재, '에너지가격과 미국 경기주기" 연설(원문)

기사입력 :

최종수정 :

※ 본문 글자 크기 조정

  • 더 작게
  • 작게
  • 보통
  • 크게
  • 더 크게

※ 번역할 언어 선택

Energy Prices and the U.S. Business Cycle

William Poole*
President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Global Interdependence Center (GIC) Abroad in Chile Conference
American Chamber of Commerce in Chile Breakfast
Santiago, Chile
March 2, 2007

*I appreciate comments provided by my colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Edward Nelson, assistant vice president, provided special assistance. I take full responsibility for errors. The views expressed are mine and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve System.

Energy Prices and the U.S. Business Cycle

A staple of the macroeconomics literature is that energy price shocks have been an important contributor to U.S. recessions. The situation is clearly more complicated than the common macro textbook exercise of using standard diagrams to work out the effects of an energy shock. Recent experience with a near tripling of oil prices from mid 2003 to mid 2006 without a recession suggests the need to review the conventional wisdom. One of my messages will be that the conventional wisdom fails to consider the fact that previous oil price shocks occurred when the U.S. economy was already suffering from substantial inflation pressures, whereas the recent run-up of oil prices has occurred in an economy with substantial overall price stability and entrenched, low inflation expectations.

Before I dig into the issue of the extent of causality between oil price shocks and recessions, I want to emphasize that the views I express here are mine and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve System. I thank my colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for their comments; Ed Nelson, asistant vice president, provided special assistance. However, I retain full responsibility for errors.
The Debate

The historical record since 1970 provides some perspective on the relationship between oil prices and the business cycle. The figure (at end of text) plots the U.S. benchmark oil price (the West Texas intermediate spot price), both in nominal terms (i.e., current U.S. dollars) and real terms (i.e., deflated by the CPI so as to be in constant 1982-84 dollars) since 1970. Shaded regions denote U.S. recessions, as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. These include the recession of 1973-75, associated with the oil price shock of 1973-74, the recessions of 1980 and 1981-82, preceded by the second oil shock in 1979, and the recession of 1990-91, also associated with a large, but more transitory, oil price increase of about 75 percent in 1990-91. There are also more drawn-out but steep oil increases in 1999-2000 and 2003-2006. The presence of the recession bars in the graph brings out what Hamilton and Herrera (2004, p. 265) observe is “a correlation between increases in oil prices and subsequent economic downturns.” In particular, recessions began in the United States within a year of the 1973, 1979 and 1990 oil price increases.

There has been much debate on how much of this link between recessions and prior oil price increases should be attributed to the powerful effect of oil shocks on the economy, and how much reflects a third factor—more restrictive monetary policy imposed at roughly the same time as the oil shocks. But I would draw attention to another aspect of the relationship between the business cycle and oil prices highlighted by the figure. The United States has never had an energy price spike occur in the middle of a recession, or immediately following a recession when unemployment is still relatively high. This fact suggests two properties of large oil price increases that are useful to keep in mind. First, very sharp increases in oil prices that we have observed historically, while undoubtedly reflecting exogenous supply disruptions to some degree, also reflect the strength of the economy at the time. Secondly, the casual association often made, based on the 1970s experience, between oil price increases and high inflation, is largely misguided because the large oil price increases of the 1970s occurred against the background of cyclical expansions that had gone too far.

The 1973 and 1979 episodes did not feature inflationary spirals triggered by the oil shocks. Instead, they are characterized by preexisting, general inflationary pressures that an alternative monetary policy could have avoided. The first oil shock in 1973 occurred against a background of clear economic overheating in the United States. U.S. monetary policy was very expansionary in 1971 and 1972, leading to excessive growth of aggregate demand that, even in the presence of price controls, spilled over into rising inflation in 1973. By October 1973—that is, the month of the first oil shock, but largely before its impact could be felt in the CPI—inflation had reached 8.1 percent on a 12-month basis, a sharp rise from the 3.2 percent rate over the 12 months ending in October 1972. Annual CPI inflation subsequently rose to 11.8 percent in October 1974 and peaked at 12.2 percent in November 1974.

Similarly, in the wake of several years of expanding demand, inflation rose throughout most of 1977 and 1978, well before the second oil shock, and the 12-month rate stood at 9.3 percent in January 1979, 2.5 percentage points above its value of January 1978. Inflation subsequently peaked at 14.6 percent in March 1980. Even the 1990 oil price spike occurred late in a long economic expansion, with annual inflation having stood above 4 percent since mid-1988. In July 1990, the 12-month CPI inflation rate was 4.8 percent, too high to correspond to price stability and not far below the July 1989 value of 5.1 percent. Following the oil shock that began in August 1990, inflation peaked at 6.4 percent in October 1990.

The strength of the economy at the time of the three oil shocks is also reflected in the unemployment rate. In October 1973, the seasonally adjusted U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent, its lowest rate since early 1970; in January 1979 it was 5.9 percent, close to its trough for the late 1970s expansion; and in July 1990, unemployment was 5.5 percent, above its March 1989 low of 5.0 percent, but still lower than its value in any month in the years 1975-1987.

This emphasis on the link between the state of the business cycle and the strength of oil prices may seem surprising. Many of the well-known spikes in the oil price are associated with exogenous events on the supply side: for example, OPEC’s quadrupling of the oil price in late 1973 in the wake of the Middle East war; OPEC’s doubling of the oil price in 1979 following the revolution in Iran; and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. These events were certainly major supply-side disruptions. But even a cartel like OPEC that administers the price of its product cannot ignore market conditions. In particular, a reason why OPEC was able to sustain the very large 1973 oil price increase for so long was because world demand for oil was underpinned by rapid expansion of aggregate demand in key markets in Europe, Japan and the United States. Indeed, some analysts of the 1973 oil shock have cast doubt on whether the oil price increase of 1973 can be considered an exogenous event at all; Barsky and Kilian (2001) argue that it was a delayed response to long-term demand developments in the oil market, combined with a response to contemporaneous buoyant world demand conditions.(1) We do not have to go this far, however, to recognize that there was a significant endogenous component to the oil price increases in 1973 and 1979 due to demand factors, reflecting an overheating of the U.S. economy which coincided with boom conditions in other advanced economies.
Oil Prices and Inflation

Members of the FOMC, as well as monetary policy makers in Europe and the United Kingdom, have spoken about oil prices and inflation on many occasions in recent years. Despite differences in emphasis, a clear proposition runs through these discussions: Irrespective of the behavior of oil prices, we can be confident that monetary policy oriented to price stability will deliver control over inflation over the medium term. It is worth spelling out this proposition in some detail.

The reason why price stability is not contingent on oil price behavior is that inflation is a sustained rise in the general level of prices. The price of oil enters heavily into a particular category of consumer prices—gasoline prices—and indirectly into the prices of many other products. It is possible for the price of energy-intensive goods to change relative to a general index of prices; in fact, such relative-price movements are part of the everyday workings of a market economy. And, over periods of, say, a year or more it is possible for monetary policy to secure low inflation—which means low growth rates in indexes of overall prices—even when energy price inflation is high. Over time, the general level of prices responds to the supply-demand imbalance in the economy: that is, to longer-term movement in total spending in the economy relative to long-run supply potential. Monetary policy actions affect the total volume of spending, and so can influence the balance between aggregate demand and supply. By keeping aggregate demand in balance with aggregate supply, monetary policy can create conditions for general price stability, even if certain components in the price index are persistently increasing.

Two aspects of this picture are worth emphasizing. First, the overall price level is susceptible to influence by monetary policy even if the price of oil, or other commodities, is being driven by exogenous supply events. That is why Milton Friedman could advance his proposition that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” even though he acknowledged that the 1973 OPEC shock had produced a “drastic alteration in the conditions of supply of crude oil.”(2) The general trend of prices is distinct from the behavior of a single price in the index or subset of the index. Inflation is always an endogenous variable in the medium term, whatever exogenous shocks are affecting its components in the short term.

Secondly, monetary policymakers often pay attention to “core” measures of prices that exclude energy and food prices. This focus does not, however, mean that policymakers’ concept of price stability refers only to a basket of goods that excludes energy-intensive items. The overall cost of living is what matters for welfare, so stability over time in indexes that include energy is desirable. But because the price of gasoline is volatile, it is often desirable to “see through” very short-term movements in consumer prices, and work out what is happening to the underlying trend of prices. Looking at core measures of inflation can be useful for this purpose. Indeed core and aggregate inflation clearly move together over longer periods. That said, during periods of sustained increases in relative energy prices, general price stability requires that price indexes that exclude energy will need to grow more slowly than the aggregate price index; over this period, achievement of inflation at a desirable level means that core inflation, on average, proceeds below the overall level of inflation.

Thirdly, an oil price increase may reduce aggregate supply and policymakers also need to take this fact into account in keeping demand and supply in balance. This issue is most prominent when the oil price change is permanent and when the economy’s technology is very energy-intensive on average. The 1973 oil shock, for example, was long-lasting and took place at a time when U.S. production was very energy-inefficient. Potential output thus fell substantially. The economy was already overheated by 1973; so, some reining in of spending by monetary policy was justified even before the oil shock; but once the oil shock took place, monetary policy needed to tighten, just to keep supply and demand from going further into imbalance. That is, it was necessary to let actual output fall with the decline in potential output. From this perspective, Hamilton and Herrera (2004) are not necessarily posing the right question when they ask how much of a monetary policy loosening would have been required to avoid a recession after the 1973 oil shock. The supply shock alone justified a monetary policy tightening on stabilization grounds.

In recent years, on the other hand, the circumstances of the 1973 oil shock have not been repeated. The economy has not been overheated; the economy is more energy-efficient so the impact on supply of oil shocks has been moderated; and the more severe spikes in the oil price such as in summer 2006 have been recognized as transitory in nature. In these circumstances, monetary policy is in a much better position to support aggregate demand in the face of oil shocks without endangering medium-term price stability. This state of affairs has been emphasized by the Federal Reserve Chairman in his discussion of the effect of oil shocks (Bernanke, 2006).

In summary, maintenance of low inflation over a period of several years or more is achievable whatever happens to oil prices. The same was true in the 1970s, and the fact that inflation was high on average reflected over-expansionary monetary policy, not the oil shocks.
Recent Oil Price Increases

The oil price increase in 2003-2006 is in line with the earlier pattern that surges in oil prices occur during economic expansions. Indeed, recent increases are more clearly a demand phenomenon than the previous increases. Energy prices in recent years have been driven by demand rather than supply. The source of this demand is unusual compared to the past, with a smaller contribution of U.S. demand and a much larger contribution of China. China’s net imports of oil were projected to be 2.3 percent of its GDP in 2006 compared to 0.9 percent in 2002 (IMF, 2006, p. 31). A longer-term perspective is given by the fact that China’s share of world demand for oil is estimated to have risen from 3.5 percent in 1990 to around 8.2 percent in 2006 (Weber, 2006). This increase reflects the rapid growth and industrialization of China in the past fifteen years, as well as the use of production technology that is, on average, energy-inefficient compared to the United States.
Conclusions

Without question, energy supply shocks are disruptive, but they need not create recessions. Indeed, there is a more general lesson from experience with oil price shocks. Monetary policy should not allow an economy to operate at the edge of a cliff. When balanced precariously at the edge of a cliff, even a minor disturbance, oil or otherwise, may be sufficient to push the economy over the edge. Although an outside shock may be the catalyst, or trigger, that creates undue inflation pressures, the fundamental problem is not the catalyst but the powerful and risky brew of an overheated economy. To use another analogy, if someone opens gas jets and fills a house with gas, do we blame the explosion on the person who lights the match or the person who opened the jets? I know where I want to place the blame.


Footnotes

1. See Hamilton (2003, pp. 388-89) for a rebuttal of Barsky and Kilian’s (2001) position that the 1973-74 oil price increase did not incorporate a major exogenous supply shift.

2. Friedman and Schwartz (1982, p. 414).


References

Barsky, Robert B., and Lutz Kilian (2001). “Do We Really Know That Oil Caused the Great Stagflation? A Monetary Alternative,” NBER Macroeconomics Annual, Vol. 16(1), 137-183.

Bernanke, Ben S. (2006). “Energy and the Economy.” Remarks before the Economic Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, June 15.

Friedman, Milton, and Anna J. Schwartz (1982). Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Hamilton, James D. (2003). “What Is an Oil Shock?,” Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 113(2), 363-398.

Hamilton, James D., and Ana Maria Herrera (2004). “Oil Shocks and Aggregate Macroeconomic Behavior: The Role of Monetary Policy,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 36(2), 265-286.

International Monetary Fund (2006). People’s Republic of China—Article IV Consultation: Staff Report. Washington, D.C.

Weber, Axel A. (2006). “Oil Price Shocks and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area.” Whitaker Lecture by President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.


[관련키워드]

[뉴스핌 베스트 기사]

사진
황대헌 "결승서 플랜B 급변경" [서울=뉴스핌] 박상욱 기자 = 한국 남자 쇼트트랙 선수로는 처음으로 3개 대회 연속 메달을 따낸 황대헌(강원도청)은 "이 자리에 오기까지 너무 많은 시련과 역경이 있었다. 너무 소중한 메달"이라고 말했다. 황대헌은 "월드투어 시리즈를 치르면서 많은 실패와 도전을 했고, 그런 부분을 제가 많이 연구하고 공부해서 좋은 결과로 이어졌다"고도 했다. 황대헌은 15일(한국시간) 2026 밀라노·코르티나담페초 동계 올림픽 쇼트트랙 남자 1500m 결승에서 옌스 판트 바우트(네덜란드)에 이어 2위로 은메달을 거머쥐었다. 그는 2018 평창 대회 남자 500m 은메달을 시작으로 2022 베이징 대회에서 남자 1500m 금메달과 남자 5000m 계주 은메달을 땄다. [밀라노 로이터=뉴스핌] 박상욱 기자= 황대헌이 15일(한국시간) 2026 밀라노·코르티나담페초 동계올림픽 쇼트트랙 남자 1500m 시상식에 오르며 주먹을 불끈 쥐고 있다. 2026.02.15 psoq1337@newspim.com 황대헌에게 이번 올림픽은 출발부터 쉽지 않았다. 지난해 11월 네덜란드 도르드레흐트에서 열린 2025-2026 국제빙상경기연맹(ISU) 쇼트트랙 월드투어 4차 대회에서 왼쪽 무릎을 다쳤다. 부상 치료가 완전히 끝나지 않은 상태에서 올림픽을 준비했다. 이날 결승은 9명이 함께 뛰었다. 황대헌은 "2022년 베이징 대회 때는 결승에서 10명이 뛰었다. 그리 놀라운 상황은 아니었다"며 "쇼트트랙 레이스의 흐름이 많이 바뀌어서 공부도 많이 했고, 계획했던 대로 경기를 풀어갈 수 있었다"고 설명했다. 이어 "경기 운영엔 다양한 전략이 있었다. 순간적으로 플랜B로 바꿨다"며 "자세한 내용은 제가 많이 연구한 결과라 소스를 공개할 수는 없다"며 미소를 보였다. psoq1337@newspim.com 2026-02-15 09:10
사진
최가온이 전한 긴박했던 순간 [서울=뉴스핌] 장환수 스포츠전문기자= "들것에 실려 나가면 그대로 끝이었어요." 2026 밀라노·코르티나담페초 동계올림픽 스노보드 여자 하프파이프에서 한국 설상 종목 사상 첫 금메달을 따낸 최가온(세화여고)이 가장 아찔했던 순간을 돌아봤다. 최가온. [사진=대한체육회] 최가온은 14일(한국시간) 이탈리아 밀라노 코리아하우스에서 열린 대한체육회 공식 기자회견에서 전날 결선 1차 시기를 떠올렸다. 그는 리비뇨 스노파크에서 열린 결선 1차 시기에서 크게 넘어지며 한동안 일어나지 못했다. 의료진이 내려와 상태를 확인했고, 들것이 대기한 긴박한 상황이었다. 최가온은 "들것에 실려 나가면 병원으로 가야 했고, 그러면 대회를 포기해야 하는 상황이었다"며 "포기하면 평생 후회할 것 같았다. 다음 선수가 기다리고 있어 시간이 많지 않았는데 잠시만 시간을 달라고 하고 발가락부터 힘을 주며 움직이려 했다"고 말했다. 다행히 걸을 수는 있었지만 코치는 기권을 권유했다. 최가온은 "나는 무조건 뛰겠다고 했지만 코치님은 걸을 수 없는 상태로 보셨다"며 "이를 악물고 계속 걸어보려 했고, 다리 상태가 조금씩 나아져 2차 시기 직전 기권을 철회했다"고 설명했다. [리비뇨 로이터=뉴스핌] 장환수 스포츠전문기자= 최가온이 13일 스노보드 여자 하프파이프 결선 1차 시기에서 넘어지자 의료진이 달려와 상태를 살펴보고 있다. 2026.02.13 zangpabo@newspim.com 1, 2차 시기 연속 실수로 벼랑 끝에 몰렸지만 3차 시기에서 반전이 일어났다. 최가온은 "긴장감이 오히려 사라졌다. 기술 생각만 하면서 출발했다. 내 연기를 완성하겠다는 생각뿐이었다"고 돌아봤다. 그리고 900도와 720도 회전을 안정적으로 연결하며 90.25점을 받아 극적인 역전 우승을 완성했다. 은메달을 차지한 교포 선수 클로이 김(미국)과 관계도 화제가 됐다. 최가온은 "클로이 언니가 안아줬는데 정말 행복했다. 그 순간 '내가 언니를 넘어섰구나' 하는 감정이 몰려왔고 눈물이 터졌다"고 했다. 이어 "경기 전에는 언니가 금메달을 땄으면 좋겠다는 생각이 들 정도로 마음이 복잡했다. 존경하는 선수라 기쁨과 서운함이 동시에 들었다"고 솔직하게 털어놨다. 부상 직후 재도전에 대한 두려움은 없었을까. 그는 "어릴 때부터 겁이 없었다. 언니, 오빠들과 함께 타며 자연스럽게 생긴 승부욕이 두려움을 이겨낸 것 같다"며 웃었다. [리비뇨=로이터뉴스핌] 밀라노-코르티나 2026 동계올림픽 스노보드 여자 하프파이프에서 금메달을 획득한 최가온 선수가 지난 12일 이탈리아 리비뇨 스노파크에서 열린 시상식에서 태극기를 들어 보이고 있다. 2026.02.13 photo@newspim.com 많은 눈이 내린 경기 환경에 대해서도 담담했다. "첫 엑스게임 때 눈이 정말 많이 왔는데 그때에 비하면 괜찮았다. 경기장에 들어갔을 때 함박눈이 내려 오히려 예쁘다고 느꼈다. 시상대에서도 눈이 내려 클로이 언니와 '이렇게 눈이 내리니 좋다'고 이야기했다"고 전했다. 몸 상태는 완전하지 않았다. 그는 "무릎이 아주 아팠지만 많이 좋아졌다"며 "올림픽을 앞두고 훈련 중 다친 왼쪽 손목은 귀국 후 점검해야 한다"고 밝혔다. 이어 "이번 올림픽에서 최고의 경기력을 보여드리지는 못했다. 기술 완성도를 더 높이고 긴장감을 다스리는 법도 보완하고 싶다"며 "먼 미래보다 당장 지금의 나보다 더 나은 선수가 되는 게 목표"라고 말했다. 최가온. [사진=올댓스포츠] 가족에 대한 고마움도 전했다. 최가온은 "아버지가 내가 어릴 때 일을 그만두고 이 길을 함께 걸었다. 많이 싸우기도 했지만 끝까지 포기하지 않고 함께해줘 지금 이 자리에 있는 것 같다"며 고개를 숙였다. 귀국 후 계획을 묻자 "할머니가 해주는 밥을 먹고 싶다. 친구들과는 파자마 파티를 하기로 했다"며 수줍게 웃었다. 금메달과 함께 포상금과 고급 시계를 받게 된 데 대해서는 "과분한 것들을 받게 돼 영광이다. 시계는 잘 차겠다"고 말했다. 스노보드 꿈나무들에게는 "하프파이프는 즐기면서 타는 게 가장 중요하다. 다치지 말고 즐기면서 탔으면 좋겠다"고 조언했다. 들것 앞에서 멈추지 않았던 17세의 선택은 결국 한국 설상 종목의 새 역사가 됐다. zangpabo@newspim.com 2026-02-14 22:35
기사 번역
결과물 출력을 준비하고 있어요.
종목 추적기

S&P 500 기업 중 기사 내용이 영향을 줄 종목 추적

결과물 출력을 준비하고 있어요.

긍정 영향 종목

  • Lockheed Martin Corp. Industrials
    우크라이나 안보 지원 강화 기대감으로 방산 수요 증가 직접적. 미·러 긴장 완화 불확실성 속에서도 방위산업 매출 안정성 강화 예상됨.

부정 영향 종목

  • Caterpillar Inc. Industrials
    우크라이나 전쟁 장기화 시 건설 및 중장비 수요 불확실성 직접적. 글로벌 인프라 투자 지연으로 매출 성장 둔화 가능성 있음.
이 내용에 포함된 데이터와 의견은 뉴스핌 AI가 분석한 결과입니다. 정보 제공 목적으로만 작성되었으며, 특정 종목 매매를 권유하지 않습니다. 투자 판단 및 결과에 대한 책임은 투자자 본인에게 있습니다. 주식 투자는 원금 손실 가능성이 있으므로, 투자 전 충분한 조사와 전문가 상담을 권장합니다.
안다쇼핑
Top으로 이동