Does Neoclassical Theory Account for the Effects of Big Fiscal Shocks? Evidence From World War II / Ellen R. McGrattan, Lee E. Ohanian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGrattan, Ellen R.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ohanian, Lee E.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w12130.

NBER working paper series no. w12130

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2006.

Summary:

There is much debate about the usefulness of the neoclassical growth model for assessing the macro-economic impact of fiscal shocks. We test the theory using data from World War II, which is by far the largest fiscal shock in the history of the United States. We take observed changes in fiscal policy during the war as inputs into a parameterized, dynamic general equilibrium model and compare the values of all variables in the model to the actual values of these variables in the data. Our main finding is that the theory quantitatively accounts for macroeconomic activity during this big fiscal shock.

Notes:

Print version record

April 2006.