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Debt Servicing, Aggregate Consumption, and Growth

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  • 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
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    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

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