Tiago Bernardino successfully defends his thesis

On Friday June 5, IIES graduate student Tiago Bernardino successfully defended his doctoral thesis, "Consumption, Prices, and Policy: Essays in Macroeconomics and Public Economics".

In his thesis, Tiago examines how shifts in consumption from goods to services, differences in price dynamics, and policy design influence the effectiveness and distributional impact of economic policy. He shows that the growing importance of services—where prices adjust more slowly—has made monetary policy more effective overall, while also amplifying short-term effects on vulnerable households. His research further highlights how economic shocks disproportionately affect lower-income groups, evaluates the impact of tax policies such as VAT cuts, and demonstrates that targeted cash transfers are more effective than price subsidies. In addition, his work explores long-term fiscal challenges, showing that immigration can play a key role in sustaining public finances in aging societies.

Erik Hurst, Chicago Booth School of Business, kindly acted as opponent.

Tiago will next join ISEG – Universidade de Lisboa as Assistant Professor.

Read more about Tiago's thesis.