Contact Information
202-452-2553
karen.dynan@frb.gov

Fields of Interest
Consumption
Macroeconomics
Consumer Finance

Education
Ph.D., Economics, Harvard University, 1992
A.B., Applied Math/Economics, Brown University, 1985

Professional Experience
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1992-present
Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisers, 2003-2004
Visiting Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University, 1998

Selected Publications

• The Evolution of Household Income Volatility (with Douglas W. Elmendorf and Daniel E. Sichel), Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-61. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2007.
• The Rise in U.S. Household Indebtedness: Causes and Consequences (with Donald L. Kohn), Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-37. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2007.
• ''Increasing Income Inequality, External Habits, and Self-Reported Happiness'' (with Enrichetta Ravina), American Economic Review, vol. 97 (May 2007), pp. 226-31.
• ''Can Financial Innovation Help to Explain the Reduced Volatility of Economic Activity?'' (with Douglas W. Elmendorf and Daniel E. Sichel), Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 53 (January 2006), pp. 123-50.
• Can Financial Innovation Help to Explain the Reduced Volatility of Economic Activity? (with Douglas W. Elmendorf and Daniel E. Sichel), Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-54. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2005.
• ''Do the Rich Save More?'' (with Jonathan Skinner and Stephen P. Zeldes), Journal of Political Economy, vol. 112 (April 2004), pp. 397-444.
• ''Unemployment Risk and Precautionary Wealth: Evidence from Households' Balance Sheets'' (with Christopher D. Carroll and Spencer D. Krane), Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 84 (August 2003), pp. 586-604.
• ''Recent Changes to a Measure of U.S. Household Debt Service'' (with Kathleen Johnson and Karen Pence), Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 89 (October 2003), pp. 417-426.
• ''Mortgage Refinancing in 2001 and Early 2002'' (with Glenn Canner and Wayne Passmore), Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 88 (December 2002), pp. 469-90.
• ''The Importance of Bequests and Life-Cycle Saving in Capital Accumulation: A New Answer'' (with Jonathan Skinner and Stephen P. Zeldes), American Economic Review, vol. 92 (May 2002), pp. 274-78.
• Do Provisional Estimates of Output Miss Economic Turning Points? (with Douglas W. Elmendorf), Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2001-52. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2001.
• Does Stock Market Wealth Matter for Consumption? (with Dean M. Maki), Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2001-23. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2001.
• ''Habit Formation in Consumer Preferences: Evidence from Panel Data,'' American Economic Review, vol. 90 (June 2000), pp. 391-406.
• ''The Underrepresentation of Women in Economics: A Study of Undergraduate Economics Students'' (with Cecilia Elena Rouse), Journal of Economic Education, vol. 28 (Fall 1997), pp. 350-68.
• ''How Prudent Are Consumers?'' Journal of Political Economy, vol. 101 (December 1993), pp. 1104-13.