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Fiscal policy coordination in currency unions at the effective lower bound

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  • Müller, Gernot

Abstract

According to the pre-crises consensus there are separate domains for monetary and fiscal stabilization in a currency union. While the common monetary policy takes care of union-wide fluctuations, fiscal policies should be tailored to meet country-specific conditions. This separation is no longer optimal, however, if monetary policy is constrained by an effective lower bound on interest rates. Specifically, we show that in this case there are benefits from coordinating fiscal policies across countries. By coordinating on a common fiscal stance, policy makers are able to stabilize union-wide activity and inflation while avoiding detrimental movements of a country's terms of trade.

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  • Müller, Gernot, 2017. "Fiscal policy coordination in currency unions at the effective lower bound," CEPR Discussion Papers 11780, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11780
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fernando Broner & Alberto Martin & Jaume Ventura, 2021. "On Public Spending and Economic Unions," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 69(1), pages 122-154, March.
    3. Karamysheva, Madina, 2022. "How do fiscal adjustments work? An empirical investigation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Schoenle, Raphael & Müller, Gernot & Pasten, Ernesto & Weber, Michael, 2020. "Big G," CEPR Discussion Papers 14625, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
      • Lydia Cox & Gernot Müller & Ernesto Pastén & Raphael Schoenle & Michael Weber, 2020. "Big G," NBER Working Papers 27034, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Lydia Cox & Gernot Muller & Ernesto Pasten & Raphael Schoenle & Michael Weber, 2020. "Big G," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 878, Central Bank of Chile.
      • Lydia Cox & Gernot J. Müller & Ernesto Pasten & Raphael Schoenle & Michael Weber, 2020. "Big G," Working Papers 2020-36, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
      • Lydia Cox & Gernot J. Müller & Ernesto Pasten & Raphael Schoenle, 2020. "Big G," Working Papers 20-15, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
      • Lydia Cox & Gernot Müller & Ernesto Pasten & Raphael S. Schoenle & Michael Weber & Michael Weber, 2020. "Big G," CESifo Working Paper Series 8229, CESifo.
    5. Beetsma, Roel & Cimadomo, Jacopo & van Spronsen, Josha, 2022. "One Scheme Fits All: A Central Fiscal Capacity for the EMU Targeting Eurozone, National and Regional Shocks," CEPR Discussion Papers 16829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Atanas Pekanov, 2018. "The New View on Fiscal Policy and its Implications for the European Monetary Union," WIFO Working Papers 562, WIFO.
    7. Stefanie Flotho, 2018. "Interaction of fiscal and monetary policy in a monetary union under the zero lower bound constraint," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 260(1), pages 159-196, January.
    8. David Cook & Michael B Devereux, 2019. "Fiscal Policy in a Currency Union at the Zero Lower Bound," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(S1), pages 43-82, December.
    9. Marco Rojas, 2022. "Monetary Policy in Small Open Economies and the International Zero Lower Bound," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 966, Central Bank of Chile.
    10. Atanas Pekanov, 2019. "Policy Brief: Past and Present of EMU Reform. Reforming the Euro Area – The Road Not (Yet) Taken," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61850, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal policy; Effective lower bound; Coordination; Emu; Terms-of-trade externality; Optimal policy; Currency union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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