IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tri/wpaper/1316.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Debt Servicing, Aggregate Consumption, and Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Setterfield

    (Department of Economics, Trinity College)

  • Yun Kim

    (Department of Economics, Trinity College)

Abstract

We develop a neo-Kaleckian growth model that emphasizes the importance of consumption behavior. In our model, workers first make consumption decisions based on their gross income, and then treat debt servicing commitments as a substitute for saving. Workers' borrowing is induced by their desire to keep up with the consumption standard set by rentiers' consumption, reflecting an aspect of the relative income hypothesis. As a result of this consumption and debt servicing behavior, consumer debt accumulation and income distribution have effects on aggregate demand, profitability, and economic growth that differ from those found in existing models. We also investigate the financial sustainability of the Golden Age and Neoliberal growth regimes within our framework. It is shown that distributional changes between the Golden Age and the Neoliberal regimes, together with corresponding changes in consumption emulation behavior via expenditure cascades, suffice to make the Neoliberal growth regime unsustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Setterfield & Yun Kim, 2013. "Debt Servicing, Aggregate Consumption, and Growth," Working Papers 1316, Trinity College, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tri:wpaper:1316
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www3.trincoll.edu/repec/WorkingPapers2013/WP13-16.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Kumhof & Romain Rancière & Pablo Winant, 2015. "Inequality, Leverage, and Crises," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 1217-1245, March.
    2. Edward N. Wolff, 2007. "Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_502, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Annamaria Lusardi & Daniel Schneider & Peter Tufano, 2011. "Financially Fragile Households: Evidence and Implications," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(1 (Spring), pages 83-150.
    4. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    5. Peter Skott, 2013. "Increasing Inequality and Financial Instability," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 478-488, December.
    6. Skott,Peter, 2008. "Conflict and Effective Demand in Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521066310, October.
    7. Marianne Bertrand & Adair Morse, 2016. "Trickle-Down Consumption," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(5), pages 863-879, December.
    8. Thomas I. Palley, 2015. "The middle class in macroeconomics and growth theory: a three-class neo-Kaleckian–Goodwin model," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(1), pages 221-243.
    9. Engelbert Stockhammer, 1999. "Robinsonian and Kaleckian Growth. An Update on Post-Keynesian Growth Theories," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp067, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    10. Laura Carvalho & Armon Rezai, 2016. "Personal income inequality and aggregate demand," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 491-505.
    11. Peter Skott & Soon Ryoo, 2008. "Macroeconomic implications of financialisation," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(6), pages 827-862, November.
    12. Cynamon,Barry Z. & Fazzari,Steven & Setterfield,Mark (ed.), 2013. "After the Great Recession," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107015890, October.
    13. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2008. "The Dependence Effect, Consumption and Happiness: Galbraith Revisited," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 527-550.
    14. Yun K. Kim & Mark Setterfield & Yuan Mei, 2014. "A theory of aggregate consumption," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(1), pages 31-49, April.
    15. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    16. Luigi L. Pasinetti, 1962. "Rate of Profit and Income Distribution in Relation to the Rate of Economic Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 29(4), pages 267-279.
    17. Lance Taylor & Armon Rezai & Rishabh Kumar & Nelson Barbosa & Laura Carvalho, 2017. "Wage increases, transfers, and the socially determined income distribution in the USA," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 259-275, April.
    18. Palma, J.G., 2009. "The Revenge of the Market on the Rentiers: Why neo-liberal Reports of the end of history turned out to be premature (Updated 19 December 2011)," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0927, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Edward Wolff & Ajit Zacharias, 2009. "Household wealth and the measurement of economic well-being in the United States," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 7(2), pages 83-115, June.
    20. Jakob Kapeller & Bernhard Schütz, 2015. "Conspicuous Consumption, Inequality and Debt: The Nature of Consumption-driven Profit-led Regimes," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 51-70, February.
    21. Frank, Robert H. & Levine, Adam Seth & Dijk, Oege, 2014. "Expenditure Cascades," Review of Behavioral Economics, now publishers, vol. 1(1-2), pages 55-73, January.
    22. 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.
    23. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931.
    24. Mark Setterfield (ed.), 2002. "The Economics of Demand-Led Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1864.
    25. Robert A. Blecker, 2002. "Distribution, Demand and Growth in Neo-Kaleckian Macro-Models," Chapters, in: Mark Setterfield (ed.), The Economics of Demand-Led Growth, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    26. Cynamon Barry Z. & Fazzari Steven M., 2008. "Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, October.
    27. Yun Kim, 2012. "Emulation and Consumer Debt: Implications of Keeping-Up with the Joneses," Working Papers 1208, Trinity College, Department of Economics.
    28. Joan Robinson, 1962. "Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-00626-7, December.
    29. José Gabriel Palma, 2009. "The revenge of the market on the rentiers," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(4), pages 829-869, July.
    30. Thomas I. Palley, 2013. "A K aldor– H icks– G oodwin– T obin– K alecki model of growth and distribution," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 319-345, May.
    31. Bhaduri, Amit & Marglin, Stephen, 1990. "Unemployment and the Real Wage: The Economic Basis for Contesting Political Ideologies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(4), pages 375-393, December.
    32. Jon Wisman, 2009. "Household Saving, Class Identity, and Conspicuous Consumption," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 89-114.
    33. Mark Setterfield & Andrew Budd, 2011. "A Keynes-Kalecki Model of Cyclical Growth with Agent-Based Features," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Philip Arestis (ed.), Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Economic Policy, chapter 13, pages 228-250, Palgrave Macmillan.
    34. Jon D. Wisman, 2013. "Wage stagnation, rising inequality and the financial crisis of 2008," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(4), pages 921-945.
    35. David Bunting, 1998. "Distributional Basis of Aggregate Consumption," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 389-413, March.
    36. A. Asimakopulos, 1975. "A Kaleckian Theory of Income Distribution," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 8(3), pages 313-333, August.
    37. Gennaro Zezza, 2008. "U.S. growth, the housing market, and the distribution of income," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 375-401, April.
    38. Thomas Palley, 2010. "The Relative Permanent Income Theory of Consumption: A Synthetic Keynes-Duesenberry-Friedman Model," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 41-56.
    39. Edward N. Wolff & Ajit Zacharias, 2013. "Class structure and economic inequality," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(6), pages 1381-1406.
    40. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2006. "Maturity, Stagnation And Consumer Debt: A Steindlian Approach," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 339-364, July.
    41. Edward N. Wolff, 2010. "Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States-- Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze--An Update to 2007," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_589, Levy Economics Institute.
    42. Harris, Donald J, 1974. "The Price Policy of Firms, the Level of Employment and Distribution of Income in the Short Run," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(22), pages 144-151, June.
    43. Thomas Palley, 2012. "Wealth and wealth distribution in the neo-Kaleckian growth model," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 453-474.
    44. Simon Mohun, 2006. "Distributive shares in the US economy, 1964--2001," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 30(3), pages 347-370, May.
    45. Asimakopulos, A, 1983. "Kalecki and Keynes on Finance, Investment and Saving," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 7(3-4), pages 221-233, September.
    46. Özlem Onaran & Engelbert Stockhammer & Lucas Grafl, 2011. "Financialisation, income distribution and aggregate demand in the USA," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(4), pages 637-661.
    47. Philip Arestis (ed.), 2011. "Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Economic Policy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-31375-0, December.
    48. Aldo Barba & Massimo Pivetti, 2009. "Rising household debt: Its causes and macroeconomic implications--a long-period analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(1), pages 113-137, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim & Jeremy Rees, 2016. "Inequality, Debt Servicing and the Sustainability of Steady State Growth," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 45-63, January.
    2. Mark Setterfield & Yun K Kim, 2020. "Varieties of capitalism, increasing income inequality and the sustainability of long-run growth," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 44(3), pages 559-582.
    3. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim, 2017. "Household borrowing and the possibility of 'consumption-driven, profit-led growth'," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 43-60, January.
    4. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    5. Yun K. Kim & Mark Setterfield & Yuan Mei, 2014. "A theory of aggregate consumption," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(1), pages 31-49, April.
    6. Soon Ryoo, 2016. "Inequality of Income and Wealth in the Long Run: A Kaldorian Perspective," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 429-457, May.
    7. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim, 2016. "Household Borrowing and the Possibility of ``Consumption-Driven, Profit-Led Growth’’," Working Papers 2016_01, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    8. Pintu Parui, 2023. "Worker household debt, functional income distribution and growth: A neo‐Kaleckian perspective," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 446-476, May.
    9. Till Treeck, 2014. "Did Inequality Cause The U.S. Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 421-448, July.
    10. Robert A. Blecker, 2016. "Wage-led versus profit-led demand regimes: the long and the short of it," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 373-390, October.
    11. Hein, Eckhard & Dodig, Nina, 2014. "Financialisation, distribution, growth and crises: Long-run tendencies," IPE Working Papers 35/2014, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    12. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931.
    13. Hein, Eckhard, & Mundt, Matthias., 2012. "Financialisation and the requirements and potentials for wage-led recovery : a review focussing on the G20," ILO Working Papers 994709323402676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Mark Setterfield & Y.K. Kim, 2024. "How financially fragile can households become? Household borrowing, the welfare state, and macroeconomic resilience," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 121-151, June.
    15. Hein, Eckhard, 2011. "Distribution, ‘Financialisation’ and the Financial and Economic Crisis – Implications for Post-crisis Economic Policies," MPRA Paper 31180, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Parui, Pintu, 2021. "Financialization and endogenous technological change: A post-Kaleckian perspective," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 221-244.
    17. Jan Behringer & Till van Treeck, 2013. "Income distribution and current account: A sectoral perspective," IMK Working Paper 125-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    18. Soon Ryoo & Yun K. Kim, 2014. "Income Distribution, Consumer Debt and Keeping up with the Joneses," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(4), pages 585-618, November.
    19. Christian A Belabed & Thomas Theobald & Till van Treeck, 2018. "Income distribution and current account imbalances [Notes on capacity utilisation, distribution and accumulation]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(1), pages 47-94.
    20. Mark Setterfield, 2014. "Rising Income Inequality, Increased Household Indebtedness, and Post Keynesian Macrodynamics," Working Papers 1403, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer debt; emulation; income distribution; Golden Age regime; Neoliberal regime; expenditure cascades; growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tri:wpaper:1316. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Miguel Ramirez (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/edtrius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.