TY  - JOUR
AU  - Feldstein,Martin S.
TI  - Rethinking the Role of Fiscal Policy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14684
PY  - 2009
Y2  - January 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14684
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14684.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Martin S. Feldstein
President Emeritus
NBER
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02138-5398
Tel: 617/868-3905
Fax: 617/868-7194
E-Mail: msfeldst@nber.org
AB  - As recently as two years ago there was a widespread consensus among economists that fiscal policy is not useful as a countercyclical instrument. Now governments in Washington and around the world are developing massive fiscal stimulus packages, supported by a wide range of economists in universities, governments, and businesses.

Why has this change occurred? What are the principles for designing a potentially useful fiscal stimulus? And what will happen if the current fiscal stimulus fails?
ER  -