This paper engages the last testimony of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, before a joint session of Congress in July 2005. It identifies nine areas we relate to the arguments of John Kenneth Galbraith, summarized in his recent contribution, The Economics of Innocent...

This paper provides an alternative view to the new consensus approach, from the standpoint of the monetary theory of production. It is shown that output growth is demand driven, so that fiscal policies, as well as direct state intervention above all in the labor market, are effective for...

From the "new consensus in macroeconomics" (NCM) framework, this paper derives a different set of policy proposals. The NCM has become associated with the use of interest rate policy to target inflation and to reach a zero output gap, and to ignore fiscal policy. This paper argues that interest...

This paper explores the macroeconomic consequences of interactions between fiscal and monetary policy, in an environment characterized by endogenous money in which the interest rate is set exogenously by the central bank. Three "benchmark" interest rate operating procedures are identified, none...

This paper reviews the current theoretical and empirical literature on the transmission mechanisms of fiscal policy. Its main conclusion is that there is nothing closely approaching an agreement on the effects of fiscal policy. The theoretical and empirical literature on the subject is scarce...

Current economic policy upgrades monetary policy and downgrades fiscal policy. Monetary policy involves the manipulation of the central bank interest rate, with the specific objective of achieving the main goal of monetary policy, which is, in most cases, the inflation rate. Fiscal policy should...

In this paper, we analyze the resurgence of discretionary fiscal policy in the fiscal theory of the price level (FTPL) framework. Despite its reliance on the new consensus macroeconomic (NCM) framework, the FTPL concludes that fiscal policy may lead monetary policy without hampering...

The debt crisis of the early 1980s prompted several analyses that emphasized the negative role of fiscal deficits on economic development. This negative view of fiscal deficits was consolidated in the "Washington Consensus" agenda. International financial crises--recurrent in a world of true...

This paper modifies the textbook income-expenditure model to properly account for imports. This modification causes government spending to have an even larger relative impact compared to tax cuts than conventionally thought. It also shows that increased government spending can have a smaller...

The European debt crisis in 2010 resulted in the adoption of fiscal austerity measures in many European economies, and produced demands for the adoption of similar policies in the United States. This paper examines whether the implementation of immediate fiscal austerity during a fragile...