Current and Anticipated Deficits, Interest Rates and Economic Activity

36 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2004 Last revised: 18 Dec 2022

See all articles by Olivier J. Blanchard

Olivier J. Blanchard

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Peterson Institute for International Economics

Date Written: 1984

Abstract

There is widespread feeling that current deficits, in Europe and the U.S.,may hurt rather than help the recovery. This paper examines some of the issues involved, through a sequence of three models.The first model focuses on sustainability and characterizes its determinants. It suggests that the issue of sustainability may indeed ber elevant in some countries.The second model focuses on the effects of fiscal policy on real interestrates, and in particular on the relative importance of the level of deficits andthe level of debt in determining interest rates.The third model focuses on the effects of fiscal policy on the speed of the recovery. It shows how a sharply increasing fiscal expansion might be initially contractionary rather than expansionary.

Suggested Citation

Blanchard, Olivier J., Current and Anticipated Deficits, Interest Rates and Economic Activity (1984). NBER Working Paper No. w1265, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=321315

Olivier J. Blanchard (Contact Author)

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