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The Irreversibility of Consumption as a Source of Endogenous Demand-driven Economic Growth

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09538259.2011.611621

1465-3982

Attilio Trezzini,

Monetary Policy and Economic Impact

Abstract In advanced capitalist economies, the asymmetry of aggregate consumption, which decreases to a lesser extent during recessions than it increases during expansions, implies an endogenous source of growth and accumulation. This thesis, put forward in a previous paper co-authored with Pierangelo Garegnani, is here scrutinized in detail and developed in terms of more general assumptions. The connection with similar assumptions on consumption to be found in the literature is also examined and some implications of the hypothesis are drawn regarding the significance of the savings rate. Acknowledgments Versions of this paper were presented in the First Brazilian Conference on the Surplus Approach, held in Salvador de Baia in October 2002, at seminars in various Italian universities, and at the Effective Demand and Economic Growth Workshop held at the University of Sydney in November 2004. The list of colleagues who have made valuable comments during these presentations is far too long for individual acknowledgment. Particular thanks do go, however, to Pierangelo Garegnani, Franklin Serrano, the late Fernando Vianello, Fabio Petri, Tony Aspromourgos and Graham White, all of whom provided comments that improved the argument through each version.