Tao Wang is a macroeconomist researching on heterogeneous-agent macroeconomics and behavioral macroeconomics. His primary research focus is understanding the patterns of household expectations and risk perceptions and their macroeconomic implications by combining evidence from survey data and quantitative macroeconomic models.
The uncertainty regarding inflation that is observed in density forecasts of households and professionals helps macroeconomists understand the formation mechanism of inflation expectations. Shocks to inflation take time to be perceived by all agents in the economy, and such rigidity is lower in a high-inflation environment.
Perceived income risks reported in a survey of consumer expectations are more heterogeneous and, on average, lower than indirectly calibrated risks based on panel data. They prove to be one explanation for why a large fraction of households hold very little liquid savings and why accumulated wealth is widely unequal across households.
