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Debt Non-Neutrality, Policy Interactions, and Macroeconomic Stability

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  • Ludger Linnemann
  • Andreas Schabert

Abstract

We study the consequences of non-neutrality of government debt with respect to aggregate demand for short-run macroeconomic stability and for fiscal-monetary policy interactions in an environment where prices are sticky. Assuming either transaction services of government bonds or partial debt repayments, Ricardian equivalence fails because public debt has a negative impact on its total rate of return and thus on private savings. Equilibrium stability then requires real public debt to be stationary, which steers future expectations about prices and output, and rules out self-fulfilling expectations. Under aggressive anti-inflationary monetary policy regimes, macroeconomic fluctuations can then decrease with the share of tax financing. In particular, a balanced budget policy stabilizes the economy under cost-push shocks such that output and inflation variances can be lower than in a corresponding framework where debt is neutral.

Suggested Citation

  • Ludger Linnemann & Andreas Schabert, 2004. "Debt Non-Neutrality, Policy Interactions, and Macroeconomic Stability," Working Paper Series in Economics 12, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:kls:series:0012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Canzoneri, Matthew & Cumby, Robert & Diba, Behzad & López-Salido, David, 2013. "Key currency status: An exorbitant privilege and an extraordinary risk," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 371-393.
    3. Canzoneri, Matthew & Cumby, Robert & Diba, Behzad, 2010. "The Interaction Between Monetary and Fiscal Policy," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 17, pages 935-999, Elsevier.
    4. Andreas Schabert & Sweder J G van Wijnbergen, 2014. "Sovereign Default and the Stability of Inflation-Targeting Regimes," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 62(2), pages 261-287, June.
    5. Peter Claeys, 2007. "Estimating the effects of fiscal policy under the budget constraint," IREA Working Papers 200715, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jul 2007.
    6. Linnemann, Ludger & Schabert, Andreas, 2015. "Liquidity premia and interest rate parity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 178-192.
    7. Eunji Kim & Yoonhee Ha & Sangheon Kim, 2017. "Public Debt, Corruption and Sustainable Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-30, March.
    8. Matthew Canzoneri & Robert Cumby, 2014. "Optimal Exchange Intervention in an Inflation Targeting Regime: Some Cautionary Tales," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 429-450, July.
    9. Matthew Canzoneri & Robert Cumby & Behzad Diba, 2015. "Monetary Policy and the Natural Rate of Interest," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(2-3), pages 383-414, March.
    10. Irena Woroniecka-Leciejewicz, 2015. "Equilibrium strategies in a fiscal-monetary game. A simulation analysis," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 25(2), pages 75-100.
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    12. Fazlioglu, S., 2013. "Determinants of sovereign debt yield spreads under EMU: Pairwise approach," Research Memorandum 007, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    13. Ludger Linnemann & Andreas Schabert, 2012. "Fiscal Rules, Interest Payments on Debt, and the Irrelevance of the Taylor Principle," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(3), pages 250-265, July.
    14. Matthew Canzoneri & Robert Cumby & Behzad Diba, 2013. "Addressing International Empirical Puzzles: the Liquidity of Bonds," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 197-215, April.
    15. Reicher, Claire A., 2014. "Fiscal targeting rules and macroeconomic stability under distortionary taxation," Kiel Working Papers 1968, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Canzoneri, Matthew B & Cumby, Robert & Diba, Behzad & López-Salido, J David, 2008. "Monetary and Fiscal Policy Coordination when Bonds Provide Transactions Services," CEPR Discussion Papers 6814, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • 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
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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