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Understanding Deflation: Treating the Disease, Not the Symptoms

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Author Info
Dimitri B. Papadimitriou
L. Randall Wray

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Abstract

Deflation can be defined as a falling general price level utilizing one of the common price indices.the consumer price index; the GDP deflator or other, narrower indices as the wholesale price index; or an index of manufactured goods prices. Falling indices of output prices can be the result of several mechanisms: productivity increases, quality increases and hedonic imputations of prices, competition from low-cost producers, government policy influences, or depressed aggregate demand. Falling output prices, in turn, can have strong effects, especially on the ability to service debts fixed in nominal terms; depending on the level of indebtedness of households and firms, they can set off a classic Minsky-Fisher debt deflation spiral. In this paper, we argue that deflation can and usually does generate large economic and social costs, but it is more important to understand that deflation itself is a symptom of severe and chronic economic problems. This distinction becomes important for the design and implementation of economic policy.

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Paper provided by Levy Economics Institute, The in its series Economics Working Paper Archive with number 392.

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Date of creation: Oct 2003
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Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:392

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. L. Randall Wray, 2003. "The Perfect Fiscal Storm," Challenge, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 46(1), pages 55-78, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & L. Randall Wray, . "Are We All Keynesians (Again)?," Economics Policy Note Archive 01-10, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  3. Wynne Godley & L. Randall Wray, . "Can Goldilocks Survive?," Economics Policy Note Archive 99-4, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  4. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & L. Randall Wray, . "What to Do with the Surplus: Fiscal Policy and the Coming Recession," Economics Policy Note Archive 98-6, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  5. Wynne Godley, 1999. "Seven Unsustainable Processes: Medium-Term Prospects and Policies for the United States and the World," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive 99-10, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  6. Walter M. Cadette, . "Can The Expansion Be Sustained? A Minskian View," Economics Policy Note Archive 00-5, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  7. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & Anwar Shaikh & Claudio H. dos Santos & Gennaro Zezza, 2002. "Is Personal Debt Sustainable?," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive 02-11, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  8. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & L. Randall Wray, . "Fiscal Policy For the Coming Recession: Large Tax Cuts are Needed to Prevent a Hard Landing," Economics Policy Note Archive 01-2, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  9. L. Randall Wray, . "Surplus Mania: A Reality Check," Economics Policy Note Archive 99-3, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
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  1. L. Randall Wray, . "Deflation Worries," Economics Policy Note Archive 03-5, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
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