Data and Code for: News Media, Inflation, and Sentiment

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Alistair Macaulay, University of Oxford; Wenting Song, Bank of Canada

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  repl_pkg 04/11/2023 12:17:AM
readme.pdf application/pdf 134.6 KB 04/10/2023 08:16:PM

Project Citation: 

Macaulay, Alistair, and Song, Wenting. Data and Code for: News Media, Inflation, and Sentiment. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-04-28. https://doi.org/10.3886/E188161V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
Data and Code accompanying the paper: We study the relationship between media portrayals of inflation and consumer sentiment. Using tools from natural language processing, we uncover two competing topics in US news coverage of inflation: the first relates inflation to financial variables, while the second relates inflation to real variables. As inflation rose in 2021, media increasingly emphasized the real economy. Linking inflation news to social-network data from Twitter, we find that exposure to articles emphasizing the connection between inflation and the real economy significantly reduces sentiment, particularly in periods of high inflation. Shifting media narratives may therefore have contributed to declining consumer sentiment in 2021.

Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources John Fell OUP Research Fund

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      E31 Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
      E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
      E71 Macro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on the Macro Economy
      L82 Entertainment; Media
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage US
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2014 – 2021
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2020 – 2022
Universe:  View help for Universe
prevalence of inflation narratives;
popularity of newspapers on Twitter;
effects of inflation narratives in the media on sentiment
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) aggregate data; observational data; program source code


Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2023-04-28]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.