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"Whatever It Takes" Is All You Need: Monetary Policy and Debt Fragility

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  • Antoine Camous
  • Russell Cooper

Abstract

The valuation of government debt is subject to strategic uncertainty. Pessimistic lenders, fearing default, bid down the price of debt, leaving a government with a higher debt burden. This increases the likelihood of default, thus confirming the pessimism of lenders. Can monetary interventions mitigate debt fragility? With one-period commitment to a state-contingent policy, the monetary authority can indeed overcome strategic uncertainty. Under discretion, debt fragility remains unless reputation effects are sufficiently strong. Simpler forms of interventions, such as an inflation target, cannot eliminate debt fragility.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Camous & Russell Cooper, 2019. ""Whatever It Takes" Is All You Need: Monetary Policy and Debt Fragility," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 38-81, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:38-81
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20170167
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. James Costain & Galo Nuño & Carlos Thomas, 2022. "The Term Structure of Interest Rates in a Heterogeneous Monetary Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 9844, CESifo.
    2. Antoine Camous & Dmitry Matveev, 2023. "The Central Bank Strikes Back! Credibility of Monetary Policy under Fiscal Influence," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(649), pages 1-29.
    3. Antoine Camous & Grégory Claeys, 2020. "The evolution of European economic institutions during the COVID‐19 crisis," Post-Print hal-03972146, HAL.
    4. Andrea Bacchiocchi & Alessandro Bellocchi & Gian Italo Bischi & Giuseppe Travaglini, 2024. "A non-linear model of public debt with bonds and money finance," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 41(2), pages 457-498, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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