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The Case for Fiscal Policy

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  • Philip Arestis
  • Malcolm Sawyer

Abstract

This paper reconsiders the case for the use of fiscal policy based on a "functional finance" approach that advocates the use of fiscal policy to secure high levels of demand in the context of private aggregate demand, which would otherwise be too low. This "functional finance" view means that any budget deficit should be seen as a response to the perceived excess of private savings over investment at the desired level of economic activity. The paper outlines the "functional finance" approach and its relationship with fiscal policy. It then considers the three lines of argument that have been advanced against fiscal policy on the grounds of "crowding out." These lines are based on the response of interest rates, the supply-side equilibrium, and Ricardian equivalence. The paper advances the view that the arguments, which have been deployed against fiscal policy to the effect that it does not raise the level of economic activity, do not apply when a "functional finance" view of fiscal policy is adopted. A section on the intertermporal budget constraint considers whether this constraint rules out budget deficits, and concludes that in general it does not.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Arestis & Malcolm Sawyer, 2003. "The Case for Fiscal Policy," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_382, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_382
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Philip Arestis & Malcolm Sawyer, 2005. "Reinventing Fiscal Policy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Blandine Laperche & Dimitri Uzunidis (ed.), John Kenneth Galbraith and the Future of Economics, chapter 9, pages 105-125, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Philip Arestis & Malcolm Sawyer, 2002. "Can Monetary Policy Affect The Real Economy?," Macroeconomics 0209012, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Barro, Robert J, 1989. "The Ricardian Approach to Budget Deficits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 37-54, Spring.
    4. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    5. Marco BUTI & Daniele FRANCO & Hedwig ONGENA, 1997. "Budgeetary Policies during Recessions : Retrospective Application of the Stability and Growth Pact” to the Post-War Period," Discussion Papers (REL - Recherches Economiques de Louvain) 1997041, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    6. Hyman P. Minsky, 1991. "Financial Crises: Systemic or Idiosyncratic," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_51, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Chadha, Jagjit S & Dimsdale, Nicholas H, 1999. "A Long View of Real Rates," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 15(2), pages 17-45, Summer.
    8. Buiter, Willem H, 2001. "Notes on 'A Code for Fiscal Stability.'," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Gerald P. Dwyer & Rik Hafer, 1998. "The federal government's budget surplus: Cause for celebration?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 83(Q 3), pages 42-51.
    10. 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.
    11. Anthony J. Laramie & Douglas Mair, 2000. "A Dynamic Theory of Taxation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1349.
    12. Wynne Godley, "undated". "Fiscal Policy To The Rescue," Economics Policy Note Archive 01-1, Levy Economics Institute.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Bevan or Thatcher: who's relevant?
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2008-09-26 16:51:45

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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Afonso & Hüseyin Sen & Ayse Kaya, 2021. "Government Size, Unemployment and Inflation Nexus in Eight Large Emerging Market Economies," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 235(1), pages 133-170, March.
    2. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, 2008. "The Return of Fiscal Policy: Can the New Developments in the New Economic Consensus Be Reconciled with the Post-Keynesian View?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_539, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Angel Asensio, 2008. "(Post) Keynesian alternative to inflation targeting," Post-Print halshs-00335560, HAL.
    4. Jean-Marie Monnier & Bruno Tinel, 2006. "Public debt and redistribution in France (1980 – 2004) [Endettement public et redistribution en France de 1980 à 2004]," Post-Print halshs-00084093, HAL.
    5. Jean-Marie Monnier & Bruno Tinel, 2006. "Endettement public et redistribution en France de 1980 à 2004," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques r06006, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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