The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have represented strong supply shocks to the economy, leading to a sharp increase in inflation since 2021. This column investigates how differences in the nature of economic shocks and central bank objectives affect disagreement over the conduct of monetary policy. Supply shocks increase the likelihood of disagreement over monetary policy decisions in central bank committees with a dual mandate. Demand shocks are associated with less disagreement. This effect is present in US monetary policy committee votes since 1957, but absent in central banks with a single mandate, such as the Bank of England.

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