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The state spends first: Logic, facts, fictions, open questions

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  • Sergio Cesaratto

Abstract

Keynesian (or Kaleckian) logic leads post Keynesian economists to presume that a variation of state revenues from taxes and sales of Treasury bonds are the result of a variation in state spending and not the other way around. In the past two decades, the exponents of modern monetary theory (MMT) have been at the forefront in asserting the Keynesian (or Kaleckian) logic of this proposition, filling a theoretical vacuum in post Keynesian thinking. The question is that MMT consolidates the Treasury and Central Bank (CB) so that the latter automatically creates purchasing power in favor of decisions of the former to spend. Critics, however, point out that most institutional arrangements forbid CBs to finance the Treasury directly. After Lavoie (2013), the debate has moved forward and seen some convergence. The present paper critically reviews for unfamiliar readers an otherwise almost esoteric but fundamental discussion.

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  • Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "The state spends first: Logic, facts, fictions, open questions," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 44-71, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:postke:v:39:y:2016:i:1:p:44-71
    DOI: 10.1080/01603477.2016.1147333
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. L. Randall Wray, 2015. "Modern Money Theory," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 2, number 978-1-137-53992-2.
    2. Eric Tymoigne, 2014. "Modern Money Theory, and Interrelations Between the Treasury and Central Bank: The Case of the United States," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 641-662.
    3. Kenneth D. Garbade, 2014. "Direct purchases of U.S. Treasury securities by Federal Reserve banks," Staff Reports 684, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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    5. repec:ucp:bkecon:9780226320625 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. L. Randall Wray, 1998. "Understanding Modern Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1668.
    7. Bindseil, Ulrich, 2004. "Monetary Policy Implementation: Theory, past, and present," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199274543.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Morlin, Guilherme Spinato, 2022. "Growth led by government expenditure and exports: Public and external debt stability in a supermultiplier model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 586-598.
    3. Summa, Ricardo de Figueiredo, 2022. "Alternative uses of functional finance: Lerner, MMT and the Sraffiansh," IPE Working Papers 175/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    4. Ehnts, Dirk H., 2020. "The fiscal-monetary nexus in Germany," IPE Working Papers 138/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    5. Olivier Allain, 2021. "A supermultiplier model of the natural rate of growth," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 612-634, July.
    6. Stefano di Bucchianico, 2019. "A bit of Keynesian debt-to-GDP arithmetic for deficit-capped countries," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 13(1), pages 55-83, June.
    7. Allain, Olivier, 2022. "A supermultiplier model with two non-capacity-generating semi-autonomous demand components," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 91-103.
    8. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "The modern revival of the Classical surplus approach: implications for the analysis of growth and crises," Department of Economics University of Siena 735, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    9. Cesaratto, Sergio, 2017. "Garegnani, Ackley and the years of high theory at Svimez," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP26, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".

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