scholarly journals Controlling national income and public debt via fiscal policy. A model matching algorithmic approach

Author(s):  
Stelios Kotsios ◽  
◽  
Ilias Kostarakos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Ann Pettifor Ann Pettifor

The analysis of government deficits and public debt points to a fundamental error in contemporary economic discussions. It is not possible to assess the stance of fiscal policy from estimates of the public sector deficit. John Maynard Keynes’s macroeconomics and the empirical evidence discussed in this paper indicate that expansionary fiscal policy financed by loan issues will lead to growth in economic activity and employment. In an economy with spare capacity and idle resources, high government expenditure generates income, including tax revenues and thereby reduces the government deficit, and cuts public debt. The main purpose of increased loanfinanced government spending at times of private economic weakness is to increase the nation’s income. Keynes argued that any such government spending was not deficit spending, because he understood the spending as the most sensible means to cut the deficit. Deficit-reduction spending might be a more appropriate definition, because as he argued with Josiah Stamp: “You will never balance the budget through measures which reduce national income” (Keynes, 1978, vol. 21, p. 149).


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasileios Spyrakis ◽  
Stelios Kotsios

AbstractThe 2008 financial crisis triggered the debt crisis in Europe. High debt-to-GDP ratios made it impossible for some countries to apply countercyclical policy in order to overcome the recession. As a result, highly indebted countries were forced to apply austerity measures to avoid sovereign default, which deepened even further the decline of their GDP. We examine the case of a highly indebted country, which is not cut off from the financial markets yet, using a bilinear difference equation system. We contemplate the dynamic equations of national income and sovereign debt together, as GDP fluctuations directly affect the debt evolution and we introduce the notion of the second relation, namely the deceleration of private investments due to sovereign debt. We build a new method for the implementation of fiscal policy, a feedback control of the economic system, and we stress its consequent policy implications. We contribute to the existing debt dynamics literature providing a new perspective for the interaction of public debt and GDP. The fiscal policy method we propose vanishes the dilemma between the front-loaded and back-loaded austerity, combines the fiscal recovery from a recession and the fiscal consolidation, as it immediately improves the debt-to-GDP ratio by increasing the national income and restraining the rise of public debt. Finally, we stress why the second relation is important for the implementation of fiscal policy, as its presence leads to a slower and more painful recovery.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Chara Vavoura ◽  
Ioannis Vavouras

The issue of public debt sustainability is of exceptional importance in the case of Greece. As a rule, the relevant analysis is limited to the examination of the fiscal policy measures reported to contribute to reducing public debt leaving out the investigation of the factors that caused the country’s debt crisis. The objective of the present paper is to explore the determinants of Greece’s debt crisis and the strategy required to address it. Our work highlights the issue of social development, which is found to be a necessary condition for ensuring the long run sustainability of the country’s public debt.


Author(s):  
Y.V. Reddy ◽  
Narayan Valluri ◽  
Partha Ray
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1398-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carratù ◽  
Bruno Chiarini ◽  
Antonella D’Agostino ◽  
Elisabetta Marzano ◽  
Andrea Regoli

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a statistically significant relationship exists between environmental quality, as measured by consumption-related air pollution, and public debt in Europe. In addition, since the debt burden is one of the most important indicators of fiscal soundness within the European Union (EU) Treaty and the subsequent fiscal compact, the authors propose a simple test to determine whether participation in EU Treaties has shaped the empirical relationship between fiscal policy/public debt and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach To this end, the authors built a panel data set that covers 24 European countries over the period 1996–2015. Findings The aspect that the authors want to underline is a possible trade off, which is confirmed in the empirical analysis, between the public finance equilibrium and the maintenance of a public good such as air quality. However, there are important non-linearities that shape the interaction between public debt and environmental pollution. Similarly, threshold effects arise when the authors examine the interaction between EU regulation and public debt and when the authors separately examine high debt and low debt countries. When the authors account for the stabilization rules introduced by EU Treaties, a negative effect on pollution is evident; in this way, fiscal consolidation limits the positive effect of fiscal policy. Practical implications The results point out the existence of a potential trade-off between the role of EU as a regulator aiming to mitigate environmental pollution, and its role within the Stability and Growth Pact. The analysis highlights that fiscal consolidation policies, while facilitating the achievement of macroeconomic stability within EU, might have a negative side effect on the environment quality, which spreads beyond the borders of one single country. Originality/value While a number of studies have suggested that fiscal spending might contribute to the level of pollution in European countries, there is scant evidence of the effect of public debt on environmental performance. This lack of scientific knowledge is a serious shortcoming, since it may allow for an underrepresentation of the wide-ranging consequences of stabilization programmes targeting the debt-to-GDP ratio, which could affect environmental quality.


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