Deficit sustainability and inflation in EMU: An analysis from the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level
Price determination theory typically focuses on the role of monetary policy, while the role of fiscal policy is usually neglected. From a different point of view, the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level takes into account monetary and fiscal policy interactions and assumes that fiscal policy may determine the price level, even if monetary authorities pursue an inflation targeting strategy. In this paper we try to test empirically whether the time path of the government budget in EMU countries would have affected price level determination. Our results point to the sustainability of fiscal policy in all the EMU countries but Finland, although no firm conclusions can be drawn about the prevalence…
US deficit sustainability revisited: A multiple structural change approach
In this article we re-examine the long-run sustainability of US budget deficits, using Bai and Perron's multiple structural change approach. While the deficit would have been weakly sustainable over the full sample (1947:1–2005:3), strong sustainability would appear only between January 1982 and February 1996.
Is the Fisher effect non-linear? some evidence for Spain, 1963–2002
In this paper the role of non-linearities in the relationship between nominal interest rates and inflation is examined, in order to shed some additional light on the mostly unfavourable evidence on the presence of a full Fisher effect. The analysis is applied to the case of Spain for the period 1963–2002, which allows previous results on the subject to be re-examined and extended. The empirical methodology makes use of recent developments on threshold cointegration, so that cointegration between a pair of variables should be expected only once a certain threshold was reached.
Is the budget deficit sustainable when fiscal policy is non-linear? The case of Spain
In this paper, we re-examine the long-run sustainability of budget deficits, when fiscal policy is conducted as a non-linear process. Our empirical methodology makes use of recent developments on threshold cointegration that consider the possibility of a non-linear relationship between government expenditures and revenues. The analysis is applied to the case of Spain, a country that has recently accomplished an important fiscal consolidation. Overall, our results suggest the presence of significant non-linear effects in Spanish fiscal policy, so that fiscal authorities would cut deficits only if they are ‘large’, which would assure in turn their long-run sustainability.
Change of regime and Phillips curve stability: The case of Spain, 1964–2002
Following the emergence of the Lucas critique, traditional Phillips curves relating inflation to a measure of the level of activity, and augmented to include past inflation (assumed to proxy expected inflation), have been deemed to be highly unstable over time. In this paper we try to investigate, using recent econometric developments, whether such a statement can be supported over a long time period. In the empirical application, we analyze the case of Spain along the period 1964–2002.
The effects of competitiveness on trade balance: The case of Southern Europe
AbstractAccording to conventional wisdom, “peripheral” Southern European members of the euro area (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) suffer from a problem of competitiveness. Since their membership of the euro area renders devaluation impossible, adjustment should come through decreasing wages and prices in these countries, which, by improving the trade balance, should lead to a recovery of previous levels of employment and growth. In this paper, the authors estimate trade balance equations for the Southern European countries, both for total trade and for the trade performed with the European Union, taking three alternative measures of the real exchange rate, based on consumption price ind…
THE CURRENT ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH ECONOMY, 1850-2016: WAS IT OPTIMAL?
espanolWe analyse the possible optimality of the path followed by the current account of the Spanish economy over a very long period of almost 170 years (1850-2016), according to the intertemporal approach to the current account and using a present-value model. In particular, from the estimation of a bivariate vector autoregression model for the current account, we attempt to assess the extent to which the latter has been used to smooth private consumption over time in the presence of temporary shocks that the economy might suffer. In general, evidence does not seem to be particularly favourable to the validity of the model over the period of analysis. EnglishAnalizamos la posible optimalid…
Deficit sustainability, and monetary versus fiscal dominance: The case of Spain, 1850–2000
Abstract In this paper, we provide a test of the sustainability of the Spanish government deficit over the period 1850–2000, emphasizing the role played by monetary and fiscal dominance in order to get fiscal solvency. Since the condition of fiscal solvency was satisfied, government deficit would have been sustainable along the sample period. In addition, the whole period can be characterized as one of fiscal dominance.
Searching for Threshold Effects in the Evolution of Budget Deficits: An Application to the Spanish Case
Abstract In this paper, we use recent developments on threshold autoregressive (TAR) models that allow us to derive endogenously threshold effects in the evolution of the Spanish budget deficit. Specifically, a mean-reverting dynamic behaviour of the budget deficit should be expected once such threshold is reached.