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Ambulance Economics: The Pros and Cons of Fiscal Stimuli

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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.

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Correspondence to W. Max Corden.

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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.

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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

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