The paper takes stock of the debate on the positive link between output volatility and the size of government - which reflects automatic stabilizers. After a survey of the literature, we show that the contribution of automatic stabilizers to output stability may have disappeared since the 1990s....

The paper takes stock of the debate on the positive link between output volatility and the size of government-which reflects automatic stabilizers. After a survey of the literature, we show that the contribution of automatic stabilizers to output stability may have disappeared since the 1990s....

[Introduction ...] The aim of this paper is to discuss this issue in the light of recent experience. It is divided into five sections. In section 2, we briefly discuss the economic benefits of macroeconomic stability and the rationale for government policies playing an active role in delivering...