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Fiscal and Monetary Policy Rules in an Unstable Economy

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  • Soon Ryoo
  • Peter Skott

Abstract

This paper examines the implications of different monetary and fiscal policy rules in an economy characterized by Harrodian instability. We show that (i) a monetary rule along Taylor lines can be stabilizing for low debt ratios but becomes de-stabilizing if the debt ratio exceeds a certain threshold, (ii) a `Keynesian' fiscal policy rule can stabilize the economy at full employment, (iii) a fiscal `austerity' rule that links fiscal parameters to deviations from a target debt ratio fails to adjust the `warranted' to the `natural' growth rate and destabilizes the warranted path, (iv) instability may arise from a combination of fiscal and monetary policy rules which separately would stabilize the system, and (v) austerity rules can in some circumstances enhance the stabilizing effects of monetary policy.
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  • Soon Ryoo & Peter Skott, 2017. "Fiscal and Monetary Policy Rules in an Unstable Economy," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 500-548, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:metroe:v:68:y:2017:i:3:p:500-548
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/meca.12139
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ryota Nakatani, 2021. "Fiscal Rules for Natural Disaster- and Climate Change-Prone Small States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-26, March.
    3. Peter Skott, 2016. "Aggregate demand, functional finance, and secular stagnation," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 13(2), pages 172-188, September.
    4. Soumya Datta & C. Saratchand, 2021. "Kaleckian conflict inflation with endogenous labor supply," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 238-259, May.
    5. Skott, Peter, 2023. "Endogenous business cycles and economic policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 61-82.
    6. Stephen Thompson, 2018. "Employment and fiscal policy in a Marxian model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(4), pages 820-846, November.
    7. Peter Skott, 2019. "Autonomous demand, Harrodian instability and the supply side," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(2), pages 233-246, May.
    8. Roger Alejandro Banegas Rivero & Marco Alberto Nunez Ramirez & Sacnicte Valdez Del Rio, 2021. "Interaction of Economic Policy. Lessons on Social Welfare and Risk Premium," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 17(1), pages 7-29.
    9. 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).
    10. 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.
    11. Krug, Sebastian, 2018. "The interaction between monetary and macroprudential policy: Should central banks 'lean against the wind' to foster macro-financial stability?," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-69.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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