RESOCONBUCY "Rethinking Sources and Consequences of Business Cycles"

Rethinking sources and consequences of business cycles

Up until 2006 most macro-economists held the view that combination of technology and monetary factors could explain the bulk of business cycles, and that overall business cycle fluctuations were not a major source of concern for policy (at least in developed
economies and in the post-war). The 2007-2009 crisis and its aftermath has radically shaken this view. First, most industrialized countries have experienced the largest and more synchronized downturn since the great depression and neither productivity nor monetary factors seem to have played a major role in it. Second the downturn has left profound scars on developed economies, in particular it has left a combination of high unemployment, large fiscal deficits, sluggish and unbalanced growth which are causing serious social discomfort together with political and international instability. The goal of this proposal is to better understand causes and consequences of the crisis. I intend to work on the 6 specific projects outlined below. All 6 projects are empirically motivated by either causes and consequences of the great depression and surrounding events, and all projects try to draw relevant policy implications from the analysis.