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Fiscal multipliers and policy coordination

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  • Gauti B. Eggertsson
Abstract
This paper addresses the effectiveness of fiscal policy at zero nominal interest rates. I analyze a stochastic general equilibrium model with sticky prices and rational expectations and assume that the government cannot commit to future policy. Real government spending increases demand by increasing public consumption. Deficit spending increases demand by generating inflation expectations. I derive fiscal spending multipliers that calculate how much output increases for each dollar of government spending (real or deficit). Under monetary and fiscal policy coordination, the real spending multiplier is 3.4 and the deficit spending multiplier is 3.8. However, when there is no policy coordination, that is, when the central bank is \\"goal independent,\\" the real spending multiplier is unchanged but the deficit spending multiplier is zero. Coordination failure may explain why fiscal policy in Japan has been relatively less effective in recent years than during the Great Depression.

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  • Gauti B. Eggertsson, 2006. "Fiscal multipliers and policy coordination," Staff Reports 241, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:241
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    3. Bing Tong & Guang Yang, 2020. "Interest Rate Pegging, Fluctuations, and Fiscal Policy in China," CFDS Discussion Paper Series 2020/3, Center for Financial Development and Stability at Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
    4. Maria Kazakova & Alexandr Knobel & Ilya Sokolov, 2010. "Quality of VAT administration in OECD countries and Russia. Reform of the Russian system of tax collection," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 134P.
    5. Juan Alberto Vázquez Muñoz & Nancy Ivonne Muller Durán & Josué Zavaleta González, 2021. "Public Deficits in USMCA Economies During the COVID-19 Economic Crisis," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, Julio - S.
    6. Alan J. Auerbach & William G. Gale, 2009. "Activist fiscal policy to stabilize economic activity," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 327-374.
    7. Philip Arestis, 2021. "UK and other advanced economies productivity and income inequality," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3-4), pages 355-370, July.
    8. Matthew Denes & Gauti B. Eggertsson, 2009. "A Bayesian approach to estimating tax and spending multipliers," Staff Reports 403, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    9. Lucas Llach & Pablo Schiaffino, 2017. "The Classics, Keynes, and the Keynesians: A Unified Formalization," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(3), pages 530-551, June.

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    Government spending policy; Fiscal policy; Deficit financing; Monetary policy;
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