Consumption in the US leads output at the business cycle frequency. Standard RBC models predict the opposite. We show in this paper that the lack of an endogenous propagation mechanism that can support demand shocks is responsible for the discrepancy between RBC theory and data.

Despite the important role played by durable goods production and inventory investment in the business cycle, theoretical models featuring durable goods inventories are rarely available in the literature. This paper provides a simple dynamic optimization model of durable goods inventories and...

We show that dependence of production on foreign inputs (or non-producible natural resources) can significantly increase the likelihood of indeterminacy. Payment of imported foreign factors of production may act as a semi-fixed cost, amplifying production externalities and returns to scale,...

This paper shows imperfect competition can lead to indeterminacy in aggregate output in a standard DSGE model with imperfect competition. Indeterminacy arises in the model from the composition of aggregate output. In sharp contrast to the indeterminacy literature pioneered by Benhabib and Farmer...

In U.S. data 1981–2012, unsecured firm credit moves procyclically and tends to lead GDP, while secured firm credit is acyclical; similarly, shocks to unsecured firm credit explain a far larger fraction of output fluctuations than shocks to secured credit. In this paper we develop a tractable...

Government spending plays an emportant role in determining economic performance in China. As an example, China's rapid recovery during the recent world financial crisis was due to its aggressive 4-trillion RMB government stimulus program. However, China's government spending programs are also...

We show that dependence on foreign energy can increase economic instability by raising the likelihood of equilibrium indeterminacy, hence making fluctuations driven by self-fulfilling expectations easier to occur. This is demonstrated in a standard neoclassical growth model. Calibration...