Artikel

The macroeconomic implications of zero growth: a post-Keynesian approach

This paper tries to clarify some important aspects of the zero-growth discussion, in particular the consistency of stable zero growth with positive profits and a positive real interest rate. Starting from an accounting perspective, the authors analyse the implications of zero growth and clarify the stability conditions of such an economy. This is complemented with a monetary circuit approach – which, like any model, has to respect the national income and financial accounting conventions. The latter allows the authors to show that a stationary economy, that is, an economy with zero net investment, is compatible with positive profits and interest rates. They also argue that a stationary economy does not generate systemic financial instability, in the sense of rising or falling financial-assets– or financial-liabilities–income ratios, if the financial balances of each macroeconomic sector are zero. In order to analyse the dynamic stability of such an economy, they make use of an autonomous demand-led growth model driven by government expenditures. They show that a stable stationary state, with zero growth, positive profits and a positive interest rate, is possible in that model. However, the stable adjustment of government-expenditures–capital and government-debt–capital ratios to their long-run equilibrium values requires specific maxima for the propensity to consume out of wealth and for the rate of interest, assuming a balanced government budget and zero retained earnings of the firm sector.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Journal: European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention (EJEEP) ; ISSN: 2052-7772 ; Volume: 19 ; Year: 2022 ; Issue: 1 ; Pages: 41-60

Classification
Wirtschaft
Environment and Growth
Capitalist Systems: General
Subject
ecological macroeconomics
post-Keynesian economics
stationary-state economics
growth imperativeQ01

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Hein, Eckhard
Jimenez, Valeria
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Edward Elgar Publishing
(where)
Cheltenham
(when)
2022

DOI
doi:10.4337/ejeep.2022.01.05
Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Artikel

Associated

  • Hein, Eckhard
  • Jimenez, Valeria
  • Edward Elgar Publishing

Time of origin

  • 2022

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