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On the Joint Determination of Fiscal and Monetary Policy

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Abstract

In the absence of government commitment, the conduct of fiscal and monetary policy depends on the sign of inherited net nominal government obligations. When these obligations are negative, monetary policy is non-distortionary and fiscal policy distortions are smoothed over time, either forever or for a finite number of periods, depending on the initial state. For positive net nominal government obligations, both fiscal and monetary policies are distortionary, and there exists a unique and stable steady state. At this steady state, a reform endowing the government with a commitment technology has no effect on policy. For any level of initial debt, the estimated welfare loss due to lack of government commitment is small.

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  • Fernando Martin, 2009. "On the Joint Determination of Fiscal and Monetary Policy," Discussion Papers dp09-01, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp09-01
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin, Fernando M., 2015. "Policy And Welfare Effects Of Within-Period Commitment," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(07), pages 1401-1426, October.
    2. Eric M Leeper & Campbell Leith & Ding Liu, 2016. "Optimal Time-Consistent Monetary, Fiscal and Debt Maturity Policy," Working Papers 2016_04, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    3. Martin, Fernando M., 2015. "Debt, inflation and central bank independence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 129-150.
    4. Fernando M. Martin, 2013. "Government Policy In Monetary Economies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(1), pages 185-217, February.
    5. Pedro, Gomis-Porqueras & Cathy, Zhang, 2018. "Optimal Monetary and Fiscal Policy with Migration in a Currency Union," MPRA Paper 83754, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. repec:eee:macchp:v2-2305 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Joost Röttger, 2014. "Monetary and Fiscal Policy with Sovereign Default," Working Paper Series in Economics 74, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    8. Martin Fernando M., 2012. "Government Policy Response to War-Expenditure Shocks," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, July.
    9. Russell Wong & Cathy Zhang & Guillaume Rocheteau, 2017. "Lending Relationships, Banking Crises and Optimal Monetary Policies," 2017 Meeting Papers 152, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Chang, Wen-ya & Chen, Ying-an & Chang, Juin-jen, 2013. "Growth and welfare effects of monetary policy with endogenous fertility," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 117-130.
    11. Waknis, Parag, 2017. "Competitive Supply of Money in a New Monetarist Model," MPRA Paper 75401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Miller, David S., 2016. "Commitment versus discretion in a political economy model of fiscal and monetary policy interaction," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 17-29.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    money; inflation; government debt; time-consistency; lack of commitment;

    JEL classification:

    • E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
    • 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
    • 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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