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Aggregate Demand, Functional Finance and Secular Stagnation

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  • Skott, Peter

    (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Abstract

This paper makes three main points. Fiscal policy, first, may be needed in the long run to maintain full employment and avoid secular stagnation. If fiscal policy is used in this way, second, the long-run debt ratio depends (i) inversely on the rate of growth, (ii) inversely on government consumption, and (iii) directly on the degree of inequality. The analysis, third, suggests that policies and policy debates have been misguided. The recent rediscovery of ’secular stagnation’ by Summers and others should be welcomed, but the suggested theoretical redirection is unclear and does not go far enough.

Suggested Citation

  • Skott, Peter, 2016. "Aggregate Demand, Functional Finance and Secular Stagnation," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2016-02, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ums:papers:2016-02
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Soon Ryoo & Peter Skott, 2013. "Public debt and full employment in a stock-flow consistent model of a corporate economy," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 511-528.
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    11. Soon Ryoo & Peter Skott, 2017. "Fiscal and Monetary Policy Rules in an Unstable Economy," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 500-548, July.
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    15. Peter Skott, 2012. "Theoretical And Empirical Shortcomings Of The Kaleckian Investment Function," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 109-138, February.
    16. Paul Davidson, 2010. "Making dollars and sense of the U.S. government debt," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 661-666, July.
    17. Peter Skott, 2014. "Pluralism, the Lucas Critique, and the Integration of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 503-515, October.
    18. Philip Arestis & Malcolm Sawyer, 2010. "The return of fiscal policy," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 327-346, April.
    19. Peter Skott, "undated". "Demand Policy in the Long Run," Economics Working Papers 2000-17, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    20. Skott,Peter, 2008. "Conflict and Effective Demand in Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521066310.
    21. Yeva Nersisyan & L. Randall Wray, 2010. "Deficit Hysteria Redux? Why We Should Stop Worrying About U.S. Government Deficits," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_111, Levy Economics Institute.
    22. Schlicht, Ekkehart, 2004. "Public Debt as Private Wealth," Discussion Papers in Economics 371, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    23. Thomas I. Palley, 2002. "Economic contradictions coming home to roost? Does the U.S. economy face a long-term aggregate demand generation problem?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 9-32.
    24. Skott, Peter, 2015. "Public debt, secular stagnation, and functional finance," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-12, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    25. Peter Skott & Ben Zipperer, 2012. "An empirical evaluation of three post-Keynesian models," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 9(2), pages 277-307.
    26. Skott, Peter & Ryoo, Soon, 2015. "Functional finance and intergenerational distribution in a Keynesian OLG model," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-13, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    27. J. Bradford DeLong & Lawrence H. Summers, 2012. "Fiscal Policy in a Depressed Economy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 43(1 (Spring), pages 233-297.
    28. Skott, Peter & Davis, Leila, 2013. "Distributional biases in the analysis of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 188-197.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Auerbach & Peter Skott, 2021. "Visions of the future – a socialist departure from gloom?," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 74(298), pages 155-177.
    2. Santiago J. Gahn, 2022. "Towards an explanation of a declining trend in capacity utilisation in the US economy," Working Papers PKWP2214, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    3. Soon Ryoo & Peter Skott, 2017. "Fiscal and Monetary Policy Rules in an Unstable Economy," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 500-548, July.
    4. Parui, Pintu, 2020. "Fiscal Expansion, Government Debt and Economic Growth: A Post-Keynesian Perspective," MPRA Paper 102740, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Skott, Peter, 2021. "Fiscal policy and structural transformation in developing economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 129-140.
    6. Peter Skott, 2019. "Autonomous demand, Harrodian instability and the supply side," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(2), pages 233-246, May.
    7. Davis, Leila & de Souza, Joao & Kim, YK. & Rella, Giacomo, 2023. "What are firms borrowing for? The role of financial assets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Manuel David Cruz & Daniele Tavani, 2022. "Secular Stagnation: A Classical-Marxian View," Working Papers PKWP2229, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    9. Peter Skott & Júlio Fernando Costa Santos & José Luís da Costa Oreiro, 2022. "Supermultipliers, ‘endogenous autonomous demand’ and functional finance," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 220-244, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    functional finance; zero lower bound; liquidity trap; fiscal policy; secular stagnation; austerity; public debt.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

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