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The Monetary and Fiscal Nexus of Neo-Chartalism: A Friendly Critique

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  • Marc Lavoie

Abstract

A number of post-Keynesian authors, called the neo-chartalists, have argued that the government does not face a budget constraint similar to that of households and that government with sovereign currencies run no risk of default, even with high debt-to-GDP ratio. This stands in contrast to countries in the eurozone, where the central bank does not normally purchase sovereign debt. While these claims now seem to be accepted by some economists, neo-chartalists have also made a number of controversial claims, including that the government spends simply by crediting a private-sector-bank account at the central bank; that the government does need to borrow to deficit-spend; and that taxes do not finance government expenditures. This paper shows that these surprising statements do have some logic, once one assumes the consolidation of the government sector and the central bank into a unique entity, the state. The paper further argues, however, that these paradoxical claims end up being counter-productive since consolidation is counter-factual.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Lavoie, 2013. "The Monetary and Fiscal Nexus of Neo-Chartalism: A Friendly Critique," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-32.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:47:y:2013:i:1:p:1-32
    DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624470101
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    Cited by:

    1. Brett Fiebiger, 2016. "Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and the Mechanics of Modern Clearing and Settlement Systems," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 590-608, October.
    2. Guillaume l'Oeillet, 2022. "Modern Monetary Theory: wrong ideas, real limits and blind spots. An overview of the critics [La Théorie Monétaire Moderne : idées fausses, vraies limites et angles morts. Un tour d’horizon des cri," Post-Print hal-03854814, HAL.
    3. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "La financiación inicial y final en el circuito monetario y la teoría de la demanda efectiva," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 18(35), pages 47-78, July-Dece.
    4. Giuliano Toshiro Yajima, 2021. "The Employer of Last Resort Scheme and the Energy Transition: A Stock-Flow Consistent Analysis," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_995, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Ehnts, Dirk H., 2020. "The fiscal-monetary nexus in Germany," IPE Working Papers 138/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    6. Hein, Eckhard & Dodig, Nina & Budyldina, Natalia, 2014. "Financial, economic and social systems: French Regulation School, Social Structures of Accumulation and Post-Keynesian approaches compared," IPE Working Papers 34/2014, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    7. Olk, Christopher & Schneider, Colleen & Hickel, Jason, 2023. "How to pay for saving the world: Modern Monetary Theory for a degrowth transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    8. Riccardo Bellofiore, 2014. "The Great Recession and the contradictions of contemporary capitalism," Chapters, in: Riccardo Bellofiore & Giovanna Vertova (ed.), The Great Recession and the Contradictions of Contemporary Capitalism, chapter 1, pages 7-25, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Nikolay Nenovsky, 2020. "The Theory of the Emission Economy Bolshevik roots of "Modern Monetary Theory"," Working Papers hal-04084551, HAL.
    10. Direye, Eli & Khemraj, Tarron, 2021. "Central bank securities and FX market intervention in a developing economy," MPRA Paper 111533, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Aug 2021.
    11. Svartzman, Romain & Dron, Dominique & Espagne, Etienne, 2019. "From ecological macroeconomics to a theory of endogenous money for a finite planet," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 108-120.
    12. Landwehr, Jannik J., 2020. "The case for a job guarantee policy in Germany: A political-economic analysis of the potential benefits and obstacles," IPE Working Papers 150/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    13. Eric Tymoigne, 2014. "Modern Money Theory, and Interrelations Between the Treasury and Central Bank: The Case of the United States," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 641-662.
    14. Karlo Kauko, 2018. "Did taxes, decrees or credibility drive money? Early nineteenth century Finland from a chartalist perspective," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(1), pages 73-90, January.
    15. Gerald Epstein, 2020. "The Empirical and Institutional Limits of Modern Money Theory," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 772-780, December.
    16. Phil Armstrong, 2020. "Can Heterodox Economics Make a Difference?," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 19964.
    17. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    18. Summa, Ricardo de Figueiredo, 2022. "Alternative uses of functional finance: Lerner, MMT and the Sraffiansh," IPE Working Papers 175/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    19. Eric Tymoigne & L. Randall Wray, 2013. "Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_778, Levy Economics Institute.
    20. Olk, Christopher & Schneider, Colleen & Hickel, Jason, 2023. "How to pay for saving the world: Modern Monetary Theory for a degrowth transition," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120343, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Peter Kriesler & Joseph Halevi & Mark Setterfield, 2020. "Political Aspects of ‘Buffer Stock’ Employment: A Reconsideration," Working Papers 2009, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    22. Sergio Cesaratto, 2017. "Initial and Final Finance in the Monetary Circuit and the Theory of Effective Demand," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 228-258, May.
    23. Esteban Cruz-Hidalgo & Dirk H. Ehnts & Pavlina R. Tcherneva, 2019. "Completing the euro: The euro treasury and the job guarantee," Revista de Economía Crítica, Asociación de Economía Crítica, vol. 27, pages 100-111.

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