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Rising inequality and stagnation in the US economy

Author

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  • Barry Z. Cynamon

    (Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Center for Household Financial Stability, MO, USA)

  • Steven M. Fazzari

    (Departments of Economics and Sociology, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA)

Abstract

US household demand is well below its trend from prior to the Great Recession. We link weak demand to rising income inequality. The demand problem did not arise contemporaneously with higher income inequality because the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution went deeply into debt to maintain consumption growth despite their stagnant income growth. But we argue that the demand impact of greater inequality did appear in the aftermath of the recession. A calibrated Keynesian growth model shows that the lower income share of the bottom 95 percent can explain the deviation of the US economy from its pre-recession trend.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven M. Fazzari, 2015. "Rising inequality and stagnation in the US economy," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 170-182, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:ejeepi:v:12:y:2015:i:2:p170-182
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mr. Bas B. Bakker & Mr. Joshua Felman, 2014. "The Rich and the Great Recession," IMF Working Papers 2014/225, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Aldo Barba & Massimo Pivetti, 2009. "Rising household debt: Its causes and macroeconomic implications--a long-period analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 113-137, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eckhard Hein & Petra Dünhaupt & Ayoze Alfageme & Marta Kulesza, 2017. "Financialisation and distribution in three main Eurozone countries from a Kaleckian perspective: the US, the UK and Sweden compared – before and after the crisis," Working Papers 9/17, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    2. Thomas Goda & Özlem Onaran & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2017. "Income Inequality and Wealth Concentration in the Recent Crisis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 48(1), pages 3-27, January.
    3. Parui, Pintu, 2021. "Financialization and endogenous technological change: A post-Kaleckian perspective," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 221-244.
    4. Eckhard Hein, 2018. "Stagnation policy in the Eurozone and economic policy alternatives: A Steindlian/neo-Kaleckian perspective," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 44(3), pages 315-348.
    5. Pintu Parui, 2023. "Worker household debt, functional income distribution and growth: A neo‐Kaleckian perspective," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 446-476, May.
    6. Pintu Parui, 2022. "Corporate debt, endogenous dividend rate, instability and growth," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 514-549, May.
    7. Maria Cristina Barbieri Goes & Joana David Avritzer, 2023. "Monetary Policy, Distribution and Autonomous Demand in the US," Working Papers 2307, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    8. Eric Kemp-Benedict, 2022. "A classical-evolutionary model of technological change," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1303-1343, September.
    9. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Stagnation policy in the Eurozone and economic policy alternatives," FMM Working Paper 05-2017, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    10. Steven M Fazzari & Piero Ferri & Anna Maria Variato, 2020. "Demand-led growth and accommodating supply," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 583-605.
    11. Andrea Čížků, 2020. "Nezaměstnanost a volná pracovní místa [Unemployment and Job Creation]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(6), pages 607-629.
    12. Guilherme Spinato Morlin & Nikolas Passos & Riccardo Pariboni, 2021. "Growth theory and the growth model perspective: Insights from the supermultiplier," Department of Economics University of Siena 869, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    13. Akcay, Ümit & Hein, Eckhard & Jungmann, Benjamin, 2021. "Financialisation and macroeconomic regimes in emerging capitalist economies before and after the Great Recession," IPE Working Papers 158/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    14. Hein, Eckhard, 2017. "Financialisation and tendencies towards stagnation: The role of macroeconomic regime changes in the course of and after the financial and economic crisis 2007-9," IPE Working Papers 90/2017, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    15. Yun K. Kim, 2020. "Household Debt Accumulation and the Great Recession of the United States: A Comparative Perspective," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 26-49, March.
    16. Eckhard Hein & Petra Dünhaupt & Ayoze Alfageme & Marta Kulesza, 2017. "Financialisation and distribution in three main Eurozone countries from a Kaleckian perspective: France, Germany and Spain compared – before and after the crisis," Working Papers 8/17, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    17. Hein, Eckhard & Dünhaupt, Petra & Alfageme, Ayoze & Kulesza, Marta, 2017. "Financialisation and distribution in the US, the UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden and France: Before and after the crisis," IPE Working Papers 85/2017, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    18. Gechert, Sebastian & Paetz, Christoph & Villanueva, Paloma, 2021. "The macroeconomic effects of social security contributions and benefits," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 571-584.
    19. Hein, Eckhard, 2020. "Financialisation and stagnation: A macroeconomic regime perspective," IPE Working Papers 149/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    20. Eckhard Hein & Franz Prante & Alessandro Bramucci, 2023. "Demand and growth regimes in finance-dominated capitalism and a progressive equality-, sustainability- and domestic demand-led alternative: A post-Keynesian simulation approach," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 76(305), pages 181-202.
    21. Hein, Eckhard, 2018. "Inequality and growth: Marxian and post-Keynesian/Kaleckian perspectives on distribution and growth regimes before and after the Great Recession," IPE Working Papers 96/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    22. Lino Sau, 2023. "Salvatore Biasco sul capitalismo contemporaneo e l'economia politica (Salvatore Biasco on contemporary capitalism and political economy)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 76(303), pages 265-277.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregate demand; consumption; saving; household; national income and product accounts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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