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Corporate Liquidity and Financial Fragility: The Role of Investment, Debt and Interest

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Toporowski

    (Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK)

Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of how debt deflation may arise in a capitalist economy with a sophisticated credit system. It argues that the standard argument of debt deflationists, that debt-financed investment causes a build-up of unsustainable investment, fails to recognise that debt is back by credit. A corollary of this is that the rate of interest is not a factor in investment decisions. Financial fragility is caused by heterogeneity of balance sheets, debt financed operations in financial markets and insufficient debt-financed investment, rather than too much such investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Toporowski, 2012. "Corporate Liquidity and Financial Fragility: The Role of Investment, Debt and Interest," Working Papers 169, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:soa:wpaper:169
    as

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    File URL: https://www.soas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-10/economics-wp169.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    4. Marc Lavoie & Mario Seccareccia, 2001. "Minsky's financial fragility hypothesis: a missing macroeconomic link?," Chapters, in: Riccardo Bellofiore & Piero Ferri (ed.), Financial Fragility and Investment in the Capitalist Economy, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Paul Davidson, 1978. "Money and the Real World," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-15865-2, December.
    6. repec:bla:revinw:v:38:y:1992:i:2:p:119-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Nancy & Richard Ruggles, 1992. "Household And Enterprise Saving And Capital Formation In The United States: A Market Transactions View," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 38(2), pages 119-163, June.
    8. Jan Toporowski, 2008. "Minsky's 'induced investment and business cycles'," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(5), pages 725-737, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Ítalo Pedrosa & Dany Lang, 2018. "Heterogeneity, distribution and financial fragility of non-financial firms: an agent-based stock-flow consistent (AB-SFC) model," CEPN Working Papers hal-01937186, HAL.
    2. Marc Lavoie, 2014. "A comment on 'Endogenous money and effective demand': a revolution or a step backwards?," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(3), pages 321-332, July.
    3. Italo Pedrosa & Dany Lang, 2018. "Heterogeneity, distribution and financial fragility of non-financial firms: an agent-based stock-flow consistent (AB-SFC) model," CEPN Working Papers 2018-11, Centre d'Economie de l'Université de Paris Nord.
    4. Baines, Joseph & Hager, Sandy Brian, 2021. "The Great Debt Divergence and its Implications for the Covid-19 Crisis: Mapping Corporate Leverage as Power," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar.
    5. Mimoza Shabani & Jan Toporowski, 2015. "A Nobel Prize for the Empirical Analysis of Asset Prices," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 62-85, January.
    6. Ítalo Pedrosa & Dany Lang, 2021. "To what extent does aggregate leverage determine financial fragility? New insights from an agent-based stock-flow consistent model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 1221-1275, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt; Interest; Investment; Crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

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