Inflation Narratives, Political Polarization and Policy Support

Abstract

In a nationally representative survey experiment with 4,000 respondents in Germany, we test how competing inflation narratives shape distributional beliefs and policy support. While average policy effects are modest, right-leaning respondents respond strongly to all narratives, substantially increasing support for mitigation measures such as social benefits. Narrative framing thus reduces partisan polarization by narrowing baseline gaps in economic policy preferences.