Lisa J Dettling
I am a Principal Economist in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board, where I am currently part of the team that forecasts the economic effects of fiscal policy. Previously, I spent seven years on the team that produces the Survey of Consumer Finances. I obtained a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland in 2013, and B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from The Ohio State University in 2007. My research is in labor and public economics, with a focus on domestic policy issues relating to families and household financial well-being.
Working papers and other new research
The Cyclicality of Births and Babies' Health, Revisited: Evidence from Unemployment Insurance (with Melissa S. Kearney)
Selected media coverage: Brookings; NBER Bulletin on Health (2023, No. 2)
Effects of Local House Prices During Young Adulthood on Marriage and Living Arrangements (with Melissa S. Kearney and Taylor Landon)
Articles in academic journals
Monetary Policy and Birth Rates: The Effect of Mortgage Rate Pass-through on Fertility , The Review of Economic Studies, January 2024 (with Fergus Cumming)
Working paper versions: Bank of England SWP 835; FEDS 2020-002; Appendix: Appendix; BoE blog post: The birds, the bees and the Bank; Media coverage: Guardian, Telegraph (x2), Daily Mail, Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, BBC Radio 4 Today, BBC Radio Scotland
Taking it to the Limit: Effects of Increased Student Loan Availability on Attainment, Earnings and Financial Well-being American Economic Review, December 2023 (with Sandy Black, Jeff Denning, Sarena Goodman and Lesley Turner),
Working paper versions: NBER Working Paper 27658; IZA Working Paper 15874; Selected media coverage: NYT, Brookings , Washington Post ; Econofact post: Is taking on more student debt bad for students?
The Smart Money is in Cash? Financial Literacy and Liquid Savings Among U.S. Households Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, March-April 2023 (with Neil Bhutta and Jackie Blair)
Working paper version: FEDS 2021-076
Minimum Wages and Consumer Credit: Effects on Access and Borrowing The Review of Financial Studies, May 2021 (with Joanne Hsu)
Working paper version: FEDS 2017-010 and Appendix ; Media Coverage: econofact.org equitablegrowth.org Econ Focus (Richmond Fed)
COVID-19, the CARES Act and Families' Financial Security National Tax Journal, 2020 (with Neil Bhutta, Jackie Blair and Kevin Moore)
Stress-Testing Household Debt , Journal of Credit Risk, 2020 (with Neil Bhutta, Jesse Bricker, Jimmy Kelliher, and Steve Laufer),
Working paper version: FEDS 2019-008
Returning to the Nest: Debt and Parental Co-residence Among Young Adults Labour Economics, 2018 (with Joanne Hsu)
FEDS Working Paper Version: 2014-80; Media Coverage: PBS Newshour Wall Street Journal WSJ #2 WSJ #3 Slate Slate #2 Fusion Fortune Forbes
Every Little Bit Counts: The Impact of High-Speed Internet on the Transition to College The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2018 (with Sarena Goodman and Jonathon Smith)
Broadband in the Labor Market:The Impact of Residential High Speed Internet on Married Women's Labor Force Participation ILR Review, 2017
FEDS Working Paper Version: 2013-65 ; Web Appendix; Media Coverage: Economist (print)
House Prices and Birth Rates: The Impact of the Real Estate Market on the Decision to Have a Baby Journal of Public Economics, 2014 (with Melissa Kearney)
Appendix: MSA Crosswalks; NBER working paper version: 17485 ; Selected media coverage: No Stupid Questions Freakonomics Podcast TIME Economist Washington Post Freakonomics New York Times Bloomberg BusinessWeek National Journal NPR The Guardian NBER Digest Weekly Standard Bloomberg
Policy reports, book chapters, and other publications
Savings and Wealth Accumulation Among Student Loan Borrowers: Implications for Retirement Preparedness (with Sarena Goodman and Sarah Reber) in Real World Shocks and Retirement System Resiliency, Edited by Olivia Mitchell, John Sabelhaus, and Stephen Utkus, Oxford University Press. 2024.
FEDS Working Paper 2022-019; Media coverage: Brookings
Why is the Default Rate So Low? How Economic Conditions and Public Policies Have Shaped Mortgage and Auto Delinquencies During the COVID-19 Pandemic (with Lauren Lambie-Hansen) FEDS Notes, Mar 4, 2021
Selected coverage: Brookings, Philadelphia FRB
Disparities in Wealth by Race and Ethnicity in the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (with Neil Bhutta, Andrew Chang and Joanne Hsu), FEDS Note, September 2020
Selected media coverage: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Washington Post, Yahoo, Reuters, Politico
Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2016 to 2019: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Neil Bhutta, Jesse Bricker, Andrew Chang, Sarena Goodman, Joanne Hsu, Kevin Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Volz and Richard Windle) Federal Reserve Bulletin, September 2020
Money in the Bank? Assessing Families Liquid Savings using the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Neil Bhutta), FEDS Note, November 2018
A Wealthless Recovery? Asset Ownership and the Uneven Recovery from the Great Recession (with Joanne Hsu and Elizabeth Llanes) FEDS Note, September 2018.
Media Coverage: Fortune, Washington Post, WSJ, Pacific Standard
Playing Catch-up: Youth Today Are Not Building Wealth The Way Their Parents Did (with Joanne Hsu) Finance and Development, June 2017
Media coverage: Business insider
Recent Trends in Wealth-Holding by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Joanne W. Hsu, Lindsay Jacobs, Kevin Moore and Jeffrey Thompson) FEDS Note, September 2017
Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2013 to 2016: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Jesse Bricker, Alice Henriques, Joanne W. Hsu, Lindsay Jacobs, Kevin Moore, Sarah Pack, Jeffrey Thompson and Richard Windle) Federal Reserve Bulletin, September 2017
Effects of Entering Adulthood in a Recession IZA World of Labor, 2016
Why Boomerang? Debt, Access to Credit, and Parental Co-residence Among Young Adults (with Joanne Hsu) FEDS Note, October 2015
Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Sebastian Devlin-Foltz, Jacob Krimmel, Sarah Pack and Jeffrey Thompson) FEDS Working Paper 2015-086
Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Jesse Bricker, Alice Henriques, Joanne W. Hsu, Kevin Moore, John Sabelhaus, Jeffrey Thompson and Richard Windle) Federal Reserve Bulletin, September 2014
The State of Young Adults Balance Sheets: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (with Joanne W. Hsu) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 2014
Source Data for Figures; Media Coverage: Bloomberg BusinessWeek Forbes The Atlantic The Atlantic #2