"Getting the Biggest Bang for the Buck in Fiscal Policy" / Miles S. Kimball.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kimball, Miles S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w18142.

NBER working paper series no. w18142

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2012.

Summary:

In ranking fiscal stimulus programs, it is useful to focus on the ratio of extra aggregate demand to extra national debt that results. This note argues that (because of repayment after the end of a recession) "national lines of credit"-that is, government-issued credit cards with countercyclical credit limits and favorable interest rates--would generate a higher ratio of extra aggregate demand to extra national debt than tax rebates. Because it involves government loans that are anticipated in advance to involve some losses and therefore involve a fiscal cost even after efforts to minimize losses, such a policy lies between traditional monetary policy and traditional fiscal policy.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2012.