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Balanced-budget rules and aggregate instability: The role of endogenous capital utilization

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  • Kevin x.d. Huang

    (Vanderbilt University)

  • Qinglai Meng

    (Oregon State University)

  • Jianpo Xue

    (Renmin University of China)

Abstract

Schmitt-Grohe and Uribe (1997) demonstrate that a balanced-budget fiscal policy can induce aggregate instability unrelated to economic fundamentals. The empirical relevance of this result has been challenged by subsequent studies. In this paper we show, both analytically and numerically, that such extrinsic instability is an empirically robust plausibility associated with a balanced-budget rule once endogenous capital utilization is taken into consideration. This suggests that the design or operation of a balanced-budget fiscal policy must recognize that it may constitute a practical source of self-fulfilling prophecies and belief-driven fluctuations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin x.d. Huang & Qinglai Meng & Jianpo Xue, 2017. "Balanced-budget rules and aggregate instability: The role of endogenous capital utilization," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 17-00005, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:van:wpaper:vuecon-sub-17-00005
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    Cited by:

    1. Kevin X.D. Huang & Qinglai Meng & Jianpo Xue, 2019. "Capital Income Taxation and Aggregate Instability," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 19-00007, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    2. Xue, Jianpo & Yip, Chong K., 2018. "Home production, balanced-budget taxation and economic (in)stability," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 231-242.
    3. Kevin x.d. Huang & Qinglai Meng & Jianpo Xue, 2019. "Capital Income Taxation and Aggregate Instability," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 19-00007, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Balanced-budget rules; Income taxes; Public debt; Capital utilization; Consumption taxes; Sunspots; Self-fulfilling expectations; Indeterminacy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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