scholarly journals Is Government Spending at the Zero Lower Bound Desirable?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin O. Bilbiie ◽  
Tommaso Monacelli ◽  
Roberto Perotti
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Welfare Effects ◽  
Zero Lower Bound ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Government Consumption ◽  
High Consumption ◽  
The Us ◽  
Parameter Values

We build a medium-scale DSGE model and calibrate it to fit the main macroeconomic variables during the US Great Recession. Using it to evaluate the welfare effects of increasing government consumption at the zero lower bound beyond what was actually observed in the data, we reach three main results. First, the increase in government consumption after 2008, albeit small in present value terms, was close to optimal. Second, frontloading the same stimulus would have been welfare-improving. Third, larger welfare effects occur in our model for parameter values implying either large welfare costs of modest recessions (e.g., high consumption curvature), or outright large recessions. (JEL E12, E32, E43, E62, H50)

scholarly journals Escaping the Great Recession

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 1030-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Bianchi ◽  
Leonardo Melosi
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Zero Lower Bound ◽  
Policy Uncertainty ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Us ◽  
Deep Recession

We show that policy uncertainty about how the rising public debt will be stabilized accounts for the lack of deflation in the US economy at the zero lower bound. We first estimate a Markov-switching VAR to highlight that a zero-lower-bound regime captures most of the comovements during the Great Recession: a deep recession, no deflation, and large fiscal imbalances. We then show that a microfounded model that features policy uncertainty accounts for these stylized facts. Finally, we highlight that policy uncertainty arises at the zero lower bound because of a trade-off between mitigating the recession and preserving long-run macroeconomic stability. (JEL E31, E32, E52, E62, G01, H63)

scholarly journals Resolving New Keynesian Anomalies with Wealth in the Utility Function

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Michaillat ◽  
Emmanuel Saez
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Utility Function ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Marginal Utility ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
Zero Lower Bound ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Low Levels

At the zero lower bound, the New Keynesian model predicts that output and inflation collapse to implausibly low levels, and that government spending and forward guidance have implausibly large effects. To resolve these anomalies, we introduce wealth into the utility function; the justification is that wealth is a marker of social status, and people value status. Since people partly save to accrue social status, the Euler equation is modified. As a result, when the marginal utility of wealth is sufficiently large, the dynamical system representing the zero-lower-bound equilibrium transforms from a saddle to a source—which resolves all the anomalies.

scholarly journals Did Smaller Firms Face Higher Costs of Credit During the Great Recession? A Vector Error Correction Analysis with Structural Breaks

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Louisa Kammerer ◽  
Miguel Ramirez
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Error Correction ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Structural Breaks ◽  
Zero Lower Bound ◽  
Large Firms ◽  
Vector Error Correction ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Vector Error ◽  
The Cost

This paper examines the challenges firms (and policymakers) encounter when confronted by a recession at the zero lower bound, when traditional monetary policy is ineffective in the face of deteriorated balance sheets and high costs of credit. Within the larger body of literature, this paper focuses on the cost of credit during a recession, which constrains smaller firms from borrowing and investing, thus magnifying the contraction. Extending and revising a model originally developed by Walker (2010) and estimated by Pandey and Ramirez (2012), this study uses a Vector Error Correction Model with structural breaks to analyze the effects of relevant economic and financial factors on the cost of credit intermediation for small and large firms. Specifically, it tests whether large firms have advantageous access to credit, especially during recessions. The findings suggest that during the Great Recession of 2007-09 the cost of credit rose for small firms while it decreased for large firms, ceteris paribus. From the results, the paper assesses alternative ways in which the central bank can respond to a recession facing the zero lower bound.

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