The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates in a Great Recession

Müller, Gernot, Keith Kuester and Giancarlo Corsetti
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Gernot J. Müller

No 11432, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We analyze macroeconomic stabilization in a small open economy which faces a large recession in the rest of the world. We show that for the economy to remain isolated from the shock, the exchange rate must depreciate not only to offset the collapse in external demand, but also to decouple domestic prices from deflation in the rest of the world. If monetary policy becomes constrained by the zero lower bound, the scope of exchange rate depreciation is limited. Still, in this case there is a ``benign coincidence'': fiscal policy is particularly effective in stabilizing economic activity. Under fixed exchange rates, instead, the impact of the external shock is particularly severe and the effectiveness of fiscal policy reduced.

Keywords: External shock; Great recession; exchange rate; Zero lower bound; Fiscal multiplier; External-demand multiplier; Benign coincidence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E31 F41 F42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-mac, nep-mon and nep-opm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Working Paper: The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates in a Great Recession (2016)
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