Effects Of Fiscal And Monetary Policies On Capital Formation And Economic Growth

The links between economic policy and economic growth are simultaneously obvious and obscure, with many factors interacting to influence the overall process. The list of relevant parameters affecting economic growth of interest to scholars and policymakers is lengthy and expanding. Although the importance of government policy is widely recognized,

Abstract: This lecture examines the effects of tax policy and social security retirement benefits on capital accumulation and economic welfare. The paper begins by examining how capital income taxes reduce the real return to savers and then discusses the welfare loss of capital income taxation relative to the alternatives of taxing consumption and labor income. The second part deals with social security retirement benefits. In 1994, older Americans will receive cash and medical benefits that cost the government $530 billion or $16,000 per person over 65. A final section discusses the implications of international capital flows for this analysis. As capital flows become more important, the response of government policy may be to compete for foreign capital inflows and to tax domestic savers more heavily; leading to a smaller total volume of capital. The sharp decline in the net national saving rate-from over 8% of GDP in the U.S. in the 1970s to only 4.5% in the 1980s & from over 14% of GDP in Europe in the 1970s to 9.9% in the 1980s -- may not only create lower real incomes and slower growth but may weaken capitalism itself. In the US a decade of slow growth has increased protectionist tendencies in international trade and led to a new interest in industrial policies that expand the role of the government in guiding the direction of technology of private investment. Government policies that discourage saving might make the Schumpeterian vision of a shift from private capitalism to government-dominated economy more likely.

This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between the structure of taxation and public expenditure and economic growth. Apart from its macroeconomic effects, fiscal policy can affect the rate of growth of aggregate output through many channels. The impacts of public education expenditure on human capital formation, of the provision of public sector infrastructure on the productivity of private capital, and of capital income taxation on saving are but three of these. Given the need to examine the impact of the components of expenditure and tax policy on growth, the paper adopts a disaggregated approach. Its major concern is the way in which the components of expenditure and tax policy will affect the supply and productivity of labor and of capital and the efficiency of resource allocation.

Textbook tracing the role of the monetary system and financial system in economic growth and development - covers financial policy in developing countries, the cost of inflation and approaches to deflation, the effects of economic integration and the international monetary system on local finance and monetary policy, and includes perspectives for coordination within the EC. References.

This study examines the effects of selected policies on economic efficiency in 81 developing countries by pooling cross-country data over various subperiods between 1961-90. An incremental output-capital ratio is the measure of economic efficiency, while the policy variables include: export orientation, size of the public sector, directed credit program through development bank lendings, financial depth, inflation rate, real interest rate, and real exchange rate distortion. The export-orientation, financial depth, and real interest rate are found to promote economic efficiency, while other policy variables are found to hinder it.