Capitalists, Workers, and Fiscal Policy

Zusammenfassung Drawing on the work of the classical-Marxian economists and their modern successors! this book sets forth a new model of economic growth and distribution! and applies it to two major policy issues: public debt and social security.

Autorentext

Thomas R. Michl is Professor of Economics, Colgate University. He is the coauthor of Growth and Distribution (Harvard).

Klappentext
Sets forth a fresh model of economic growth and distribution, and applies it to two major policy issues: public debt and social security. This book focuses on the problem of fiscal policy, examining the ways that taxation and government spending affect the distribution of wealth and income as well as the rate of economic growth.

Inhalt
I. From the Short Run to the Long 1. Introduction The classical approach Harrod and modern growth theory Rethinking fiscal surpluses 2. The nature of the long run Effective demand and Say's Law The paradox of thrift The problem of excess capacity A classical-Kaleckian model Capital-constrained growth Labor-constrained growth An intellectual division of labor II. Long-run Models of Fiscal Policy 3. A two-class model Elements of the growth models Wages and profits Capitalists Workers Endogenous growth Dynamics of capital accumulation Comparative dynamics Exogenous growth Temporary equilibrium Dynamics of wealth distribution Comparative dynamics Intuition and alternative closures Appendix: Dynamic programming 4. Saving and the class structure Critical values of the discount factor Saving Saving motives Saving propensities The institutional structure of saving The distribution of wealth On class analysis 5. Debt and endogenous growth Public debt in a growth model Government On the government budget constraint Capitalists with infinite horizon Capitalists with finite horizons Workers Infinite horizon case Temporary equilibrium Steady state Comparative dynamics Transitional dynamics and class structure Finite horizon case Temporary equilibrium Steady state Comparative dynamics Transitional dynamics and class structure Model comparison Appendix: Elements of A and B matrices 6. Debt and exogenous growth Infinite horizon case Temporary equilibrium Steady state Comparative dynamics Transitional dynamics and fiscal policy Welfare effect of demographic shock Finite horizon case Temporary equilibrium Steady state Comparative dynamics Transitional dynamics and fiscal policy Model comparison U.S. fiscal policy 7. Pensions and endogenous growth Elements of a public pension system Government Workers Money's worth and funding systems Endogenous growth with a public pension Steady state Dynamics Conditions for two-class regime Policy issues Policy design Policy reform 8. Pensions and exogenous growth Preliminary issues Exogenous growth with a public pension Temporary equilibrium Steady state Comparative dynamics Transitional dynamics and expectations Stable expectations Adaptive expectations Perfect foresight Demographic shocks PAYGO case Funded case Transitional dynamics The old-age crisis Policy issues Policy design Policy reform 9. Optimal policy Natural rate of growth One-class regime Two-class regime Optimal public pension One-class case Policy dilemmas in the two-class model Conclusion III. Technical Change and the Production Function 10. Fossil production function: theory Theory of production Biased technical change Fossil production function Viable technical changes Biased technical change and growth Endogenous growth Exogenous growth Total factor productivity? Appendix: Control theory 11. Fossil production function: evidence The aggregate data Adjustments Technical change Profit share Viability: a first pass The wage-profit curves Cross sectional data Pooled data Country studies Conclusion IV. Summary 12. Fiscal Policy Reconsidered The burden of public debt Pensions and the nation as rentier The production function A final admonition Author Index * Subject Index