This brief provides a detailed description of the Stability and Growth Pact, an agreement entered into by the member states of the European Union that has far-reaching implications for the long-run value of the euro, and therefore, on the real economy in terms of output growth and employment....

Central bankers and many economists have abandoned "activist" policies and monetarism and adopted in their place a new view of the role of monetary policy. This view draws on many of the tenets of more traditional theories of money-monetarism's emphasis inflation control and skepticism about the...

Geoff Harcourt has been a thoroughgoing Keynesian committed to the achievement of sustainable (environmental and otherwise) and equitable (nationally and internationally) economic development and growth, and full employment of the available labour force. Achieving such an objective would...

A major argument used against the use of fiscal policy comes from the view that there are automatic forces within an economic system to ensure high levels of demand. This paper argues that the case for fiscal policy in general rests on the proposition that there are no such market forces that...

This contribution focuses on a coherent new way of thinking about the macroeconomy in terms of both economic theory and economic policies. The central bank should focus on financial stability; for fiscal policy in the short term and in the long term to address demand issues is very important....

The purpose of this paper is to compare new developments on the monetary policy front, or what is known as inflation targeting, with some of Keynes's ideas as propounded in a pamphlet in 1932. A number of the ingredients of the new monetary policy approach can be found in Keynes, especially that...

From this paper's Preface, by Dr. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, President: A rebound of consumption, investment, and consumer confidence in the second half of 2003 has raised hopes that the U.S. economic recovery from the 2001 recession is on a sustainable course. According to this brief by Philip...

In an asset and debt deflation, the process of reducing debt by saving and curtailing spending takes a long time, say the authors. Current imbalances and poor prospects for spending in the private sector affect the balance sheets of the commercial banks. The downward spiral between the banks and...