Abstract
The world economy has had a heart attack and the Keynesian ambulance has come to the rescue. How are the present and the future affected by debt-financed fiscal stimuli policies? What are the practical problems? Seven arguments against fiscal stimuli are critically examined, including Ricardian equivalence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Caballero R (2009) Sudden financial arrest, www.voxeu.org, November
Corden WM (1979) Wages and unemployment in Australia. Econ Rec 55:1–19
Corden WM (1994) Economic policy, exchange rates, and the international system. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Corden WM (2010) The theory of the fiscal stimulus: how will a debt-financed stimulus affect the future? Oxf Rev Econ Policy 26(1), Spring, pp. 38–47. Earlier version available on www.cepr.org/policy insight no.34
International Monetary Fund (2008) Fiscal policy for the crisis, by A. Spilimbergo, S. Symansky, O. Blanchard, and C. Cottarelli, December
International Monetary Fund (2009) The state of public finances: outlook and medium-term policies after the 2008 crisis, March
Koo RC (2008) The holy grail of macroeconomics: lessons from Japan’s great recession. Wiley (Asia)
Mankiw NG (1994) Macroeconomics, 2nd edn. Worth, New York
OECD Economics Department (2009a) Fiscal packages across OECD countries: overview and country details, March
OECD (2009b) “The effectiveness and scope of fiscal stimulus”, Chapter 3 in The Interim Report of OECD Economic Outlook
Wilkes G (2009) A balancing act: fair solutions to a modern debt crisis. Centre Forum, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This is a revised version of the keynote speech delivered at the conference on Trade and Industry in Asia Pacific: History Trends and Prospects, Australian National University, Canberra, 19–20 November 2009. This earlier version also appeared on the web at www.cepr.org/policy insight No.43.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corden, W.M. Ambulance Economics: The Pros and Cons of Fiscal Stimuli. Open Econ Rev 22, 235–245 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-011-9199-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-011-9199-z
Keywords
- Ambulance economics
- Fiscal stimulus
- Keynesian economics
- Budget deficit
- Automatic stabilisers
- Ricardian equivalence