2.

Economic effects of fiscal policy

Governments use fiscal policy to influence the level of aggregate demand in the economy, in
an effort to achieve economic objectives of price stability, full employment, and economic
growth. Keynesian economics suggests that increasing government spending and decreasing
tax rates are the best ways to stimulate aggregate demand, and decreasing spending &
increasing taxes after the economic boom begins. Keynesians argue this method be used in
times of recession or low economic activity as an essential tool for building the framework
for strong economic growth and working towards full employment. In theory, the resulting
deficits would be paid for by an expanded economy during the boom that would follow; this
was the reasoning behind the New Deal.
Governments can use a budget surplus to do two things: to slow the pace of strong economic
growth, and to stabilize prices when inflation is too high. Keynesian theory posits that
removing spending from the economy will reduce levels of aggregate demand and contract
the economy, thus stabilizing prices.
But economists still debate the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus. The argument mostly centres
on crowding out: crowding out is argued by some economists to occur when increased
government borrowing, a kind of expansionary fiscal policy, reduces investment spending.
The increased borrowing 'crowds out' private investing


Whether government borrowing leads to higher interest rates that may offset the stimulative
impact of spending. When the government runs a budget deficit, funds will need to come
from public borrowing (the issue of government bonds), overseas borrowing,
or monetizing the debt. When governments fund a deficit with the issuing of government
bonds, interest rates can increase across the market, because government borrowing creates
higher demand for credit in the financial markets. This causes a lower aggregate demand for
goods and services, contrary to the objective of a fiscal stimulus.
Neoclassical economists generally emphasize crowding out while Keynesians argue that
fiscal policy can still be effective especially in a liquidity trap where, they argue, crowding
out is minimal.
Some classical and neoclassical economists argue that crowding out completely negates any
fiscal stimulus; this is known as the Treasury View
[
, which Keynesian economics rejects. The
Treasury View refers to the theoretical positions of classical economists in the British
Treasury, who opposed Keynes' call in the 1930s for fiscal stimulus. The same general
argument has been repeated by some neoclassical economists up to the present.
In the classical view, the expansionary fiscal policy also decreases net exports, which has a
mitigating effect on national output and income. When government borrowing increases
interest rates it attracts foreign capital from foreign investors. This is because, all other things
being equal, the bonds issued from a country executing expansionary fiscal policy now offer
a higher rate of return. In other words, companies wanting to finance projects must compete
with their government for capital so they offer higher rates of return. To purchase bonds
originating from a certain country, foreign investors must obtain that country's currency.
Therefore, when foreign capital flows into the country undergoing fiscal expansion, demand
for that country's currency increases. The increased demand causes that country's currency to
appreciate. Once the currency appreciates, goods originating from that country now cost more
to foreigners than they did before and foreign goods now cost less than they did before.
Consequently, exports decrease and imports increase.
Other possible problems with fiscal stimulus include the time lag between the implementation
of the policy and detectable effects in the economy, and inflationary effects driven by
increased demand. In theory, fiscal stimulus does not cause inflation when it uses resources
that would have otherwise been idle. For instance, if a fiscal stimulus employs a worker who
otherwise would have been unemployed, there is no inflationary effect; however, if the
stimulus employs a worker who otherwise would have had a job, the stimulus is increasing
labor demand while labor supply remains fixed, leading to wage inflation and therefore price
inflation.


Microeconomic effects of tax changes
1. Taxation and work incentives:
Changes in income taxes affect the incentive to work. Consider the impact of a rise in
income tax.
This has the effect of reducing the post-tax income of those in work because for each
hour of work taken the total net income is now lower.
This might encourage the individual to work more hours to maintain his/her target
income.
Conversely, the effect might be less work since the return from each hour worked is
less.
Changes to the tax and benefit system seek to reduce the risk of the poverty trap
where households on low incomes see little financial benefit from supplying extra
hours of their labour
2. Taxation and the Pattern of Demand
Changes to indirect taxes can alter the pattern of demand for goods and services
For example, the rising value of duty on cigarettes and alcohol is designed to cause a
substitution effect and reduce the demand for what are perceived as de-merit
goods.
The use of indirect taxation and subsidies is often justified on the grounds of instances
of market failure. But there might also be a justification based on achieving a
more equitable allocation of resources e.g. providing basic state health care free at
the point of use.
3. Taxation and labour productivity
Some economists argue that taxes can have a significant effect on the intensity with
which people work and productivity. But there is little strong empirical evidence to
support this view. Many factors contribute to improving productivity tax changes
can play a role - but isolating the impact of tax cuts on productivity is extremely
difficult.

Major Findings:

Preliminary findings for India show that discretionary fiscal policy shocks have
economically significant effects on activity, with current government spending
multiplier estimated at one (on impact), declining to around 0.5 after four to five
quarters, suggesting partial crowding out of some private demand component.

Consistent with evidence for other countries, the development spending multiplier is
greater than 1, suggesting that composition of spending matters, with a persistent
effect even at 16 quarters.

Tax revenue multiplier is about twice as large as current spending (same order of
magnitude of development spending), and remains significant after 8 quarters. This
is also consistent with the cross-country evidence, which shows large tax multipliers,
especially at longer horizons.










IMPACT OF FISCAL STIMULUS

The present fiscal stimulus packages are being given away by the government because of the
impact of the global financial meltdown on the Indian economy. The global crisis has had a
huge impact on our exports, financial markets, production (due to a slowdown in demand)
and also on job market to a certain extent.
Although most economists believe that we can not do much in terms of own policy action
when it comes to exports and exports will continue to suffer until importing economies like
US and European Union will recover, but a boost can certainly be given to the domestic
demand.
Hence present fiscal policy actions aim at stimulating domestic demand and have focus on
sectors that provide huge employment. Roughly 70% of our demand is domestic hence the
government believes such policy actions should pull out India out of the slowdown.


Fiscal Deficit Issues in India

The exercise of fiscal policy in India has its limits. The combination of low revenues and
inelastic expenditures means that expenditures routinely, and even increasingly outpace
revenues.With poor credit and bond markets and downwardly inflexible fiscal
expenditures,some of the financing of the resultant deficit spills over onto the external sector
and the central bank.

Given financing constraints many developing countries like India have to opt,to a
considerable extent,on non-bond(monetary) financing of the deficit. This then establishes a
direct links between fiscal policy and the monetary base of central bank blurs the distinction
between fiscal and monetary policy and compromises central bank independence.If high
public expenditure is financed by issuing government bonds there is a possibility of crowding
out of private investment. By contrast, low and stable levels of the fiscal deficit by sending a
positive message on the governments ability to service its debt,may attract private investors
and reduce the risk of economic crises.This,in turn yields further benefits in terms of higher
rates of investment,growth,educational attainment,increased distribution equity and reduced
poverty.

If the link between fiscal deficits and monetary expansion were quantitatively strong, there
would be a link between the fiscal deficit and inflation; particularly if seigniorage revenues
were used to close the budgetary gap. However, in India this association is weak. Some
Experts find a positive correlation between inflation and the fiscal deficit only when the
inflation rate is high and there is a clear seigniorage motive to get additional revenue from
money creation.

Even if fiscal deficits are sustainable these could impact on economies. Of particular interest
to economists is the impact of fiscal deficits on the prospects for economic growth. The
financing of fiscal deficits by reducing the amount of funds available for private investment,
commonly known as crowding out could, it is argued, hurt the prospects for economic
growth. A contrary view argues that public investment, irrespective of how it is financed, by
building infrastructure and providing support services creates a more conducive climate for
private investment and, hence, improves the prospects for economic growth. Ultimately, thus,
whether public deficits impede or spur economic growth becomes an empirical question.
Public expenditure is permitted to be both growth enhancing as well as growth inhibiting and
there are distortionary taxes in place. The government budget is not required to be balanced
and fiscal deficits are permitted. It is shown that the impact of the deficit depends upon the
mode of financing it. Deficits can be growth enhancing if financed by limited seigniorage but
it is likely to be growth inhibiting if financed by domestic debt; and to have opposite flow
and stock effects if financed by external loans at market rates. These opposite effects, in turn,
define a threshold effect before attaining which fiscal deficit has growth enhancing effects
and after which the effects of fiscal deficits are growth inhibiting.


Fiscal straitjacket
The concept of a fiscal straitjacket is a general economic principle that suggests strict
constraints on government spending and public sector borrowing, to limit or regulate the
budget deficit over a time period. The term probably originated from the definition
of straitjacket (anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders). Various states in the
United States have various forms of self-imposed fiscal straitjackets.