Long-Run Inflation and Financial Panics

<jats:p>We study how long-run inflation affects systemic bank-run risk in a medium-scale New Keynesian model with banks and endogenous financial panics. In the benchmark calibration, the bank-run probability more than doubles when annual trend inflation increases from zero to six percent. Higher trend inflation makes price-setting firms more forward-looking, thereby muting expected real-rate declines and amplifying the fall in asset prices during crises. The zero lower bound raises run risk only at low long-run inflation rates. Disinflationary transitions can sharply increase short-run risk, especially if a "cold turkey" disinflation is pursued. Finally, we discuss implications for monetary and macroprudential policy trade-offs.</jats:p>