Abstract
Much debate surrounds the usefulness of the neoclassical growth model for assessing the macroeconomic impact of fiscal shocks. We test the theory using data from World War II, which is by far the largest fiscal shock in the history of the United States. We take observed changes in fiscal policy during the war as inputs into a parameterized, dynamic general equilibrium model and compare the values of all variables in the model to the actual values of these variables in the data. Our main finding is that the theory quantitatively accounts for macroeconomic activity during this big fiscal shock.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 509-532 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | International Economic Review |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2010 |