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Corporate Legacy Debt, Inflation, and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy

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  • Goodhart, Charles
  • Peiris, M. Udara
  • Tsomocos, Dimitrios P
  • Wang, Xuan

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a rapid increase in indebtedness. Although the rise in public debt and its policy implications have recently received much attention, the rise in corporate debt has received less so. We argue that high levels of corporate debt may impede the transmission mechanism of monetary policy and make it less effective in controlling inflation. In an environment with working capital financing requirements, when firms’ indebtedness is sufficiently high, the income effect of higher nominal interest rates offsets or even dominates its usual negative substitution effect on aggregate demand and is quantitatively important. This mechanism is independent of standard financial and nominal frictions and aggravates the trade-off between inflation and output stabilisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Goodhart, Charles & Peiris, M. Udara & Tsomocos, Dimitrios P & Wang, Xuan, 2022. "Corporate Legacy Debt, Inflation, and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 16799, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:16799
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    Cited by:

    1. Goodhart, Charles A.E. & Tsomocos, Dimitrios P. & Wang, Xuan, 2023. "Bank credit, inflation, and default risks over an infinite horizon," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate indebtedness; Debt inflation; Working capital; Monetary transmission mechanism; Income effect; Taylor principle;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation

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