Reinventing Functional Finance: Transformational Growth and Full Employment - Hardcover

Edward J. Nell; Mathew Forstater

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843761114 ISBN 13: 9781843761112

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

This ambitious book seeks both to revive and revise the idea of 'functional finance'. Followers of this doctrine believe that government budgets should concentrate solely on their macroeconomic impact on the economy, rather than reflecting a concern for sound finance and budgetary discipline.

Reinventing Functional Finance examines the origins of this idea and then considers it in a modern context. The authors explore the concept of NAIRU and argue that modern economies can operate at the level of full employment without provoking unmanageable inflation. They also contend that budget deficits do not have the deleterious effects commonly ascribed to them; the belief that they do rests on a misunderstanding of modern money. In this context, they highlight the relevance of Abba Lerner's famous dictum, 'money is a creature of the State'. The authors also debate the merits of various proposals for 'Employer of Last Resort' programs, which combine automatic stabilizers with the buffer stock principle.

The book boasts an array of eminent contributors which includes, amongst others, James Duesenberry, Robert Eisner, Robert Heilbroner, Richard Musgrave, Edward Nell and Randall Wray.

Financial economists, politicians, policymakers and bankers will welcome this provocative and refreshing book which challenges established economic thinking.

About this title

About the Author

Edited by Edward J. Nell, Malcolm B. Smith Professor of Economics, The New School for Social Research, US and Mathew Forstater, Associate Professor of Economics and Director, Center for Full Employment and Price Stability, University of Missouri, Kansas City, US

Edition details

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1843761114
• ISBN 13: 9781843761112
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368