 On Harrodian instability: two stabilizing mechanisms may be jointly destabilizingReiner Franke
Review of Keynesian Economics, 2019, vol. 7, issue 1, 43-56 Abstract: In (heterodox) economic theory, discussions of dynamic stability contrast negative with positive feedback effects. With more complex relationships, stable and unstable sub-models are set up, the intuition being that stability in an integrated model would be determined by the stronger forces. Accordingly, a combination of two stabilizing mechanisms will normally be expected to reinforce stability. The present paper gives a simple counter-example to this intuition, first in a purely formal reasoning and then illustrating it in a specific economic context. Regarding the latter, two approaches are considered that have recently been put forward in the literature to tame Harrodian instability: one by monetary policy acting through (indirect) interest-rate effects, and the other by an autonomously growing, non-capacity-creating component of aggregate demand, which gives rise to the so-called supermultiplier. While the two mechanisms separately stabilize the steady state if they are sufficiently strong, their interaction will necessarily render it unstable. Keywords: Neo-Kaleckian framework; Sraffian supermultiplier; monetary policy; phase diagrams (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:rokejn:v:7:y:2019:i:1:p43-56 Access Statistics for this article Review of Keynesian Economics is currently edited by Thomas Palley, MatÃas Vernengo and Esteban Pérez Caldentey More articles in Review of Keynesian Economics from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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