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A Small Corner of Intertemporal Public Finance - New Developments in Monetary Economics: 2 Ghosts, 2 Eccentricities, A Fallacy, A Mirage and A Mythos

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  • Willem Buiter
Abstract
Monetary theory and policy are part of intertemporal public finance. The lecture reviews some interesting recent developments. The two ghosts are the venerable liquidity trap and the Pigou effect or real balance effect. The eccentricities are negative nominal interest rates and the helicopter drop of base money - two unconventional policies for stimulating consumer demand even when nominal interest rates, short and long, present and future, are at their zero lower bounds. The fallacy is the so-called Fiscal Theory of the Price Level, a logically in-consistent theory of the link between the government budget and the general price level. The mirage is the prediction that financial deregulation and technical change in the payments and settlements technology (e-money etc.), will cause monetary policy to lose its capacity to influence even nominal economic variables. Mythos refers to the independent central bank.

Suggested Citation

  • Willem Buiter, 2004. "A Small Corner of Intertemporal Public Finance - New Developments in Monetary Economics: 2 Ghosts, 2 Eccentricities, A Fallacy, A Mirage and A Mythos," NBER Working Papers 10524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10524
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Buiter, Willem H. & Sibert, Anne C., 2007. "Deflationary Bubbles," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 431-454, September.
    2. Harashima, Taiji, 2019. "A Theory of Inflation: The Law of Motion for Inflation under the MDC-based Procedure," MPRA Paper 113161, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Harashima, Taiji, 2007. "The Optimal Quantity of Money Consistent with Positive Nominal Interest Rates," MPRA Paper 1839, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Feb 2007.
    4. Harashima, Taiji, 2007. "Hyperinflation, disinflation, deflation, etc.: A unified and micro-founded explanation for inflation," MPRA Paper 3836, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Willem H. Buiter, 2004. "The Elusive Welfare Economics of Price Stability as a Monetary Policy Objective: Should New Keynesian Central Bankers Pursue Price Stability?," NBER Working Papers 10848, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Taiji Harashima, 2004. "The Ultimate Source of Inflation: A Microfoundation of the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level," Macroeconomics 0409018, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Mar 2005.
    7. Harashima, Taiji, 2008. "A Microfounded Mechanism of Observed Substantial Inflation Persistence," MPRA Paper 10668, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Victor, Olivo, 2011. "The role of money in economies with monetary policy regimes that ignore monetary aggregates," MPRA Paper 41244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Harashima, Taiji, 2006. "The Sustainability of Budget Deficits in an Inflationary Economy," MPRA Paper 905, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    JEL classification:

    • E0 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General
    • E4 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates

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