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Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery: The Case of the 1936 Veterans' Bonus

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  • Joshua K. Hausman

Abstract

Conventional wisdom has it that in the 1930s fiscal policy did not work because it was not tried. This paper shows that fiscal policy was tried in 1936. The veterans' bonus of 1936 paid 2 percent of GDP to 3.2 million veterans; the typical veteran received a payment equal to per capita income. Multiple sources, including a household consumption survey, show that veterans spent the majority of their bonus. Point estimates of the MPC are between 0.6 and 0.75. Spending was concentrated on cars and housing in particular. (JEL E21, E32, E62, N32, N42)

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  • Joshua K. Hausman, 2016. "Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery: The Case of the 1936 Veterans' Bonus," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(4), pages 1100-1143, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:106:y:2016:i:4:p:1100-1143
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20130957
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, 2019. "Geographic Cross-Sectional Fiscal Spending Multipliers: What Have We Learned?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 1-34, May.
    2. Price Fishback, 2017. "How Successful Was the New Deal? The Microeconomic Impact of New Deal Spending and Lending Policies in the 1930s," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1435-1485, December.
    3. Ramey, V.A., 2016. "Macroeconomic Shocks and Their Propagation," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 71-162, Elsevier.
    4. Jalil, Andrew J. & Rua, Gisela, 2016. "Inflation expectations and recovery in spring 1933," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 26-50.
    5. Biolsi, Christopher, 2017. "Nonlinear effects of fiscal policy over the business cycle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 54-87.
    6. Andrew Jalil & Gisela Rua, 2015. "Inflation Expectations and Recovery from the Depression in 1933: Evidence from the Narrative Record," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-29, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Jason Lennard & Meredith M. Paker, 2023. "Devaluation, Exports, and Recovery from the Great Depression," Discussion Papers 2403, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    8. Barry Eichengreen, 2020. "Keynesian economics: can it return if it never died?," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 8(1), pages 23-35, January.
    9. Margaret M. Jacobson & Eric M. Leeper & Bruce Preston, 2019. "Recovery of 1933," NBER Working Papers 25629, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Jason P. Brown & Timothy Fitzgerald & Jeremy G. Weber, 2019. "Does Resource Ownership Matter? Oil and Gas Royalties and the Income Effect of Extraction," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(6), pages 1039-1064.
    11. Henry S Farber & Daniel Herbst & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1325-1385.
    12. Davide Cantoni & Noam Yuchtman, 2020. "Historical Natural Experiments: Bridging Economics and Economic History," NBER Working Papers 26754, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Jérémie Cohen‐Setton & Joshua K. Hausman & Johannes F. Wieland, 2017. "Supply‐Side Policies in the Depression: Evidence from France," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(2-3), pages 273-317, March.
    14. Párraga Rodríguez, Susana, 2018. "The dynamic effects of public expenditure shocks in the United States," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 340-360.
    15. Chad Brown & Jeronimo Carballo & Alessandro Peri, 2022. "Bankruptcy Shocks and Legal Labor Markets: Evidence from the Court Competition Era," Papers 2202.00044, arXiv.org.
    16. Fuchs-Schündeln, N. & Hassan, T.A., 2016. "Natural Experiments in Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 923-1012, Elsevier.
    17. Susana Párraga Rodríguez, 2023. "The aggregate effects of government income transfers shocks: EU evidence," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 1-28, March.
    18. Quincy, Sarah, 2022. "Income shocks and housing spillovers: Evidence from the World War I Veterans’ Bonus," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    19. Tan, Hui Ren, 2020. "Did military service during World War I affect the economic status of American veterans?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Thomas Gemert & Lenard Lieb & Tania Treibich, 2022. "Local fiscal multipliers of different government spending categories," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2551-2575, November.
    21. Pennings,Steven Michael, 2020. "Cross-Region Transfers in a Monetary Union : Evidence from the US and Some Implications," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9244, The World Bank.
    22. Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, 2017. "Geographic Cross-Sectional Fiscal Multipliers: What Have We Learned?," Working Paper 458091, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    23. Bazzana, Davide & Zaitchik, Benjamin & Gilioli, Gianni, 2020. "Impact of water and energy infrastructure on local well-being: an agent-based analysis of the water-energy-food nexus," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 165-176.
    24. Christopher Biolsi, 2019. "Local Effects of a Military Spending Shock: Evidence from Shipbuilding in the 1930s," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 227-248, April.
    25. Duque, Valentina & Schmitz, Lauren L., 2020. "The Influence of Early-life Economic Shocks on Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from the U.S. Great Depression," Working Papers 2020-11, University of Sydney, School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N42 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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