Topic Archive: Macroeconomics

Start the presses: reconsidering a money-financed fiscal stimulus


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The idea of financing a fiscal stimulus with money creation has long been a taboo and disregarded as a policy option. But is this justified? Jordi Galí investigates the effects of a government engaging in just such a stimulus as compared with a debt-financed stimulus.

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Managing credit bubbles


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Barcelona GSE research on VoxEU.org by Alberto Martín and Jaume Ventura

There is a widespread view among macroeconomists that fluctuations in collateral are an important driver of credit booms and busts. This column distinguishes between ‘fundamental’ collateral – backed by expectations of future profits – and ‘bubbly’ collateral – backed by expectations of future credit. Markets are generically unable to provide the optimal amount of bubbly collateral, which creates a natural role for stabilisation policies. A lender of last resort with the ability to tax and subsidise credit can design a ‘leaning against the wind’ policy that replicates the ‘optimal’ bubble allocation.

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