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Escaping a Liquidity Trap: Keynes’ Prescription Is Right But His Reasoning Is Wrong

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  • Harashima, Taiji

Abstract

Keynes’ original intention in introducing the concept of a liquidity trap was to explain the reason why persistent large amounts of unutilized resources were generated during the Great Depression. This paper shows that this type of phenomenon cannot be explained in the framework of a traditional competitive market equilibrium. Instead, it can be understood in terms of a Nash equilibrium consisting of strategies of choosing a Pareto inefficient transition path because a Nash equilibrium can conceptually coexist with Pareto inefficiency. Such a Nash equilibrium will be selected when an upwards time preference shock occurs. At this Nash equilibrium, monetary policies are useless but fiscal policies are very effective as Keynes argued, but for different reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Harashima, Taiji, 2013. "Escaping a Liquidity Trap: Keynes’ Prescription Is Right But His Reasoning Is Wrong," MPRA Paper 48115, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:48115
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Harashima, Taiji, 2011. "A Mechanism of Cyclical Volatility in the Vacancy-Unemployment Ratio: What Is the Source of Rigidity?," MPRA Paper 32476, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Harashima, Taiji, 2017. "Should a Government Fiscally Intervene in a Recession and, If So, How?," MPRA Paper 78053, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Harashima, Taiji, 2016. "The Impending Long March of the Chinese Economy," MPRA Paper 73275, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Taiji HARASHIMA, 2013. "The Phillips Curve And A Micro-Foundation Of Trend Inflation," Theoretical and Practical Research in the Economic Fields, ASERS Publishing, vol. 4(2), pages 151-182.
    4. Harashima, Taiji, 2016. "The Cause of the Great Recession: What Caused the Downward Shift of the GDP Trend in the United States?," MPRA Paper 69215, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • 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

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