Rethinking monetary theory in light of Keynes and the crisis

  • Marc Lavoie
Keywords: inflation targeting, endogenous money, quantitative easing, money multiplier, potential output

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the main changes that have occurred or that need to occur in monetary economics, and to do this in light of what Keynes told us 80 years ago in his General Theory, or even more than 85 years ago when he wrote the Treatise on Money.  Inflation targeting and central bank independence are re-examined, as are the standard views of the money multiplier and of the fractional-reserve system. Unconventional monetary policies, although previously suggested by Keynes, appear to be a disguised return to Monetarism and the actual impact of quantitative easing must be understood in light of a theory of endogenous money with monetary implementation occurring within a framework where the target interest rate is set at the floor of the corridor.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Arestis, P. (2015), “Current and future European Central Bank monetary policy”, Brazilian Keynesian Review, 1(1), 4-17.

Ball, L. M. (2014), “The case for a long run inflation target of four percent”, IMF working paper WP/14/92, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp1492.pdf

Bank of Canada (2011), Renewal of the Inflation-Control Target: Background Information, October, http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/background_nov11.pdf

Bean, C. (2009), “Quantitative Easing – An interim report”, Speech to the London Society of Chartered Accountants, 13 October, http://www.bis.org/review/r091019c.pdf

Bindseil, U. (2004), Monetary Policy Implementation: Theory, Past, and Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Borio, C. and P. Disyatat (2010), “Unconventional monetary policies: an appraisal”, Manchester School, 78, Supplement, September, 53-89.

Cardim de Carvalho, F.J. (2013), “Keynes and endogenous money”, Review of Keynesian Economics, 1 (4), 431-446.

Clinton, K. (2006), “Inflation targeting in Canada: Origins, conduct, accountability, lessons”, paper presented at a conference at Sciences Po Bordeaux, May 2006. .

Cramp, A.B. (1971), “Monetary policy: Strong or weak?”, in N. Kaldor (ed.), Conflicts in Policy Objectives, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 62-74.

Eichner, A.S. (1986), Toward a New Economics: Essays in Post-Keynesian and Institutionalist Theory, London: Macmillan.

Fullwiler, S.T. (2003), “Timeliness and the Fed’s daily tactics”, Journal of Economic Issues, 37 (4), December, 851-880.

Fullwiler, S. (2013), “An endogenous money perspective on the post-crisis monetary policy debate”, Review of Keynesian Economics, 1 (2), Summer, 171-194.

Godley, W. (1997), “Macroeconomics without equilibrium or disequilibrium”, working paper No. 205, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Reproduced in M. Lavoie and G. Zezza (eds), The Stock-flow Consistent Approach: Selected Essays of Wynne Godley, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 90-122.

Kaldor, N. (1982), The Scourge of Monetarism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Keynes, J.M. (1930a), A Treatise on Money, Volume 1, The Pure Theory of Money, New York: Harcourt Brace and Company.

Keynes, J.M. (1930b), A Treatise on Money, Volume 2, The Applied Theory of Money, New York: Harcourt Brace and Company.

Keynes, J. M. (1936), The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, London: Macmillan.

Kregel, J. (2014), “Liquidity preference and the entry and exit to ZIRP and QE”, Policy Note 2014/5, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College.

Krugman, P. (1998), “It’s baaack! Japan’s slump and the return of the liquidity trap”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2, 137–187.

Lavoie, M. (2010), “Changes in central bank procedures during the subprime crisis and their repercussions on monetary theory”, International Journal of Political Economy, 39 (3), Fall, 3-23.

Lavoie, M. (2014), Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

McLeay, M., Radia, A., Thoms, R. (2014), “Money creation in the modern economy”, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, 1st Quarter, pp. 14-27.

Moore, B.J. (1988), Horizontalists and Verticalists: The Macroeconomics of Credit Money, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Neville, J.W. and P. Kriesler (2014), “A bright future can be ours! Macroeconomic policy for non-eurozone Western countries”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 38 (6), 1453-1470.

Patinkin, D. (1948), “Flexibility and full employment”, American Economic Review, 38 (4), 543-564.

Peach, R., R. Rich and A. Cororation (2011), “How does slack influence inflation”, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Current Issues in Economics and Finance, 17 (3), 1-7.

Poole, W. (1970), “Optimal choice of monetary policy instruments in a simple stochastic macro models”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84 (2), May, 197-216.

Rymes, T.K. (1991), “The case for a discretionary, politically responsible central bank”, in T.K. Rymes (ed.), Welfare, Property Rights and Economic Policy: Essays and Tributes in Honour of H. Scott Gordon, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, pp. 133- 153.

Seccareccia, M. and M. Lavoie (2010), “Inflation targeting in Canada: myth and reality”, in G. Fontana, J. McCombie and M. Sawyer (eds), Macroeconomics, Finance and Money: Essays in Honour of Philip Arestis, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 35-53.

Sheard, P. (2013), “Repeat after me: Banks do not and cannot lend out reserves”, Research Note, Standard and Poor’s Rating Services.

Tily, G. (2007), Keynes’s General Theory, the Rate of Interest and ‘Keynesian’ Economics: Keynes Betrayed, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Published
2017-01-31
How to Cite
Lavoie, M. (2017). Rethinking monetary theory in light of Keynes and the crisis. Brazilian Keynesian Review, 2(2), 174-188. https://doi.org/10.33834/bkr.v2i2.96
Section
Articles