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The use of fiscal and monetary policy
The use of fiscal and monetary policy
The use of fiscal and monetary policy
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A theme that dominates modern discussions of macro policy is the importance of expectations, and economists have devoted a great deal of thought to expectations and the economy. Change in expectations can shift the aggregate demand (AD) curve; expectations of inflation can cause inflation. For this reason expectations are central to all policy discussions, and what people believe policy will be significantly influences the effectiveness of the policy. Expectations complicate models and policymaking enormously; they change the focus of discussions from a response that can be captured by simple models to much more complicated discussions. The adaptive expectations theory assumes people form their expectations on future inflation on the basis of previous and present inflation rates and only gradually change their expectations as experience unfolds. In this theory, there is a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment which does not exist in the long-run. Any attempt to reduce the unemployment rate blow the natural rate sets in motion forces which destabilize the Phillips Curve and shift it rightward. The Rational expectations model was developed by Robert Lucas,rational economic agents are assumed to make the best of all possible use of all publicly available information. Before reaching a conclusion, people are assumed to consider all available information before them, then make informed, rational judgments on what the future holds. This does not mean that every individual’s expectations or predictions about the future will be correct. Those errors that do occur will be randomly distributed, such that the expectations of large numbers of people will average out to be correct. To illustrate Expectations of inflatio... ... middle of paper ... ..., monetary and fiscal policy will work in different ways. People aren’t stupid and they aren’t super intelligent; they are people. If the government uses an activist monetary and fiscal policy in a predictable way, people will eventually come to build that expectation into their behavior. If the government bases its prediction of the effect of policy on past experience, that prediction will likely be wrong. But government never knows when expectations will change. Let’s consider an example. Say that everyone expects government to run expansionary fiscal policy if the economy is in recession. In the absence of any expected policy response from the government, people will lower their prices when they see a recession coming. Expecting government expansionary policy, however they won’t lower their price. Thus, the expectation of policy can create its own problems.
But as we know, there is always going to be one or the other. The reason that an economy is thrown out of equilibrium in the first place is a result of consumer spending habits. If these habits are changed, there is a result is one of two things. If consumers increase there spending habits, an inflationary gap occurs. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if consumers were to reduce their spending, the result is a recessionary gap. Inflation occurs when the economy is growing uncontrollably fast as a result of consumer spending. This rapid rate of inflation happens when consumers are spending money due to increases in income. When consumers spend more, this increases the overall price level, which therefore leads to a further increase in income. This cycle is what leads to over-inflation. One of two things can be done when an economy is experiencing an economic gap, whether it is above or below the trend line. Option one is to do nothing about it and let the problem work itself out. The problem with this method is that in order for a recession to work itself out without government assistance, this requires that workers take pay cuts – something that a very low percentage of people are accepting of simply due to the personal
First, I will discuss the time period between 1973-1974. Because the unemployment and inflation rates are higher than normal, we can assume that the aggregate-demand curve is downward-sloping. When the aggregate-demand curve is downward-sloping, we know that the economy’s demand has slowed down. When the economy’s demand has slowed down, businesses have to choice but to raise prices and lay off workers in order to preserve profits. When employers throughout the country respond to their decrease in demand the same way, unemployment increases.
For example, if the cost of the consumer basket rises, say, from $100 in 2007 to $102 in 2008, the average annual rate of inflation for 2008 is 2 per cent. People generally believed that if the inflation rate was higher than normal in the past so they will expect it to be higher in the future than anticipated whereas some takes in consideration the past along with current economic indicators, such as the current inflation rate and current economic policies, to anticipate its future performance. Over the long term, the earnings margins of corporations are inflationary and so are the wage gains of workers. According to rational expectations, attempts to reduce unemployment will only result in higher inflation. To fully appreciate theories of expectations, it is helpful to review the difference between real and nominal concepts. Anything that is nominal is a stated aspect. In contrast, anything that is real has been adjusted for inflation. To make the distinction clearer, consider this example. Suppose you are opening a savings account at a bank that promises a 5% interest rate. This is the nominal, or stated, interest
...more of a Keynesian thinker more than a new classical thinker. Although it might be true that having free market is the right way of having a stabled economy, but unemployment will still be high and might be increasing which is still till now one of the troublesome that governments face today. Plus, what happens if recession hits or even worse we go back to 1930’s where there was the great depression, it was proved then and will be proved again if happened that the only way to solve a sort of crises is by government intervention (basically spending). Yes it will increase inflation but creates more job opportunities and unemployment will decrease if government intervention occurs. Yes in the long run this might be bad but people care about tomorrow more than they care about 3 or 4 years from now or even more. As Lord Keynes once said “in the long run we are all dead”
In chapter nine ‘Why is there an employment/inflation trade-off?’ the authors critique the natural rate theory. They agree with the fact that wage setting is influenced by expectations of inflation but disagree that inflationary expectation affects ‘wage and price setting one for one’
In the study of macroeconomics there are several sub factors that affect the economy either favorably or adversely. One dynamic of macroeconomics is monetary policy. Monetary policy consists of deliberate changes in the money supply to influence interest rates and thus the level of spending in the economy. “The goal of a monetary policy is to achieve and maintain price level stability, full employment and economic growth.” (McConnell & Brue, 2004).
However, several weaknesses exist from this economic viewpoint. This economic school of thought has only a short run focus and does not take into consideration the long-term effect immediate decisions may have on the economy. It only focuses on the economy from a macro level and ignores microeconomic factors, such as market sectors or labor issues, that can effect the national economy. Keynesian places too much emphasis on the multiplier and ignores potential crowding out effects due to increased government
The problem with balancing an economy is that human judgment and evaluation of economic situations enter into the equation. Establishing a constant growth level in the money supply would eliminate the decision making process of the central banker. The problem with human intervention is the short-sided nature of many of the policies designed to aid the economy. Such interventions, which yields unintended negative consequences, is the result of the time inconsistency problem. This problem is understood through situations during which central bankers conduct monetary policy in a discretionary way and pursue expansionary policies that are attractive in the short-run, but lead to detrimental long-run outcomes. Friedman believes that by leaving money growth decisions to an individual, the results are poor long-run management and eventually high inflation rates, an obvious detriment to the economy.
The term Monetary policy refers to the method through which a country’s monetary authority, such as the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England control money supply for the aim of promoting economic stability and growth and is primarily achieved by the targeting of various interest rates. Monetary policy may be either contractionary or expansionary whereby a contractionary policy reduces the money supply, reduces the rate at which money is supplied or sets about an increase in interest rates. Expansionary policies on the other hand increase the supply of money or lower the interest rates. Interest rates may also be referred to as tight if their aim is to reduce inflation; neutral, if their aim is neither inflation reduction nor growth stimulation; or, accommodative, if aimed at stimulating growth. Monetary policies have a great impact on the economic stability of a country and if not well formulated, may lead to economic calamities (Reinhart & Rogoff, 2013). The current monetary policy of the United States Federal Reserve while being accommodative and expansionary so as to stimulate growth after the 2008 recession, will lead to an economic pitfall if maintained in its current state. This paper will examine this current policy, its strengths and weaknesses as well as recommendations that will ensure economic stability.
Inflation rate is one of the factors that will influence the volatility and risk of stock market. Inflation is categorized into two categories which are expected inflation and unexpected inflation. Expected inflation defines that there was a plan which created by the economics and consumers year by year. It is less of people holding the cash over time to avoid the condition of depreciation value of money. While, unexpected inflation is dependent on the estimation of the economic and consumers. In general, unexpected inflation brings more harmful effect than expected inflation. The major effect of unexpected inflation is a redistribution of
The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique for thinking, which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions. The ideas of economists and politicians, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." (John Maynard Keynes, the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money p 383)
Today, our nation is in a recession. Nobody can deny that. No politician, no Wall Street financier, no journalist, can say otherwise. The discrepancies lie with the principle method of economic response to this crisis. Some politicians point out the unemployment rate and call down the powers of Congress to decrease it. Others still look to the devious inflation percentage that lurks behind, as a shadow, ready to cut purchasing power and increase prices. Unfortunately, as the Phillips curve warns us, the two are irreconcilable. Lower inflation invites higher unemployment, and increasing employment beckons heightened prices. The discrepancies lie with the classic battle between controlling inflation and unemployment. Though it may be the less popular choice, politicians should concentrate on curbing inflation as it has a great impact on our economy and is a more accurate indicator of economic stability.
Whereas Milton Friedman argued that consumption is related to permanent rather than current income. He was therefore more sceptical about he usefulness of a tax change for stabilisation purposes than one who believes that consumption depends on current disposable income. Policy makers usually use Fiscal policy to alter the level, timing or composition of government expenditure and/or the level, timing or structure of tax payments. And they use Monetary policy to alter the supply of money and/or credit and also to alter interest rates. But some policies are not always successful; a good example was the decision to use monetary policy to solve the liquidity trap.
In the long run, both the goal of money supply growth and interest rates is perfectly compatible but in the short run, central banks face trade-off between money growth and price stability because shift in demand for money will affect interest rate if the money supply is fixed (Wright & Quadrini, 2009). Therefore, explicit inflation targeting (keeping increases in price level within the certain range) leads to lower employment and output in short run. Likewise, monetary aggregate targeting can boost employment and economic growth but can result in higher inflation. Further, time lag which is long lags between policy implementation and real-world effects made it difficult for policy makers to determine what degree of policy is
Keynes asserted that because the private sector is unpredictable, it may have a negative impact on the economy, and thus government interference is necessary to raise the GDP. He believed this is done by inserting money into the economy or investing. Many economists have begun advocating major government intervention in order to balance out today’s economy. Our generation has witnessed Keynes theories be put to use in the U.S. and around the world. Some of these include the government bailing out major companies, and monetary stimulus to households. Keynes created the Aggregate Expenditure Model in order to achieve equilibrium in the economy and prevent recessions or depression from occurring.