TY  - JOUR
AU  - Buiter,Willem H.
TI  - Notes on "A Code for Fiscal Stability"
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 6522
PY  - 1998
Y2  - April 1998
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6522
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6522.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Willem H. Buiter
Citigroup Centre
Canada Square, Canary Wharf
London E14 5LB
UNITED KINGDOM
E-Mail: willembuiter@btinternet.com
AB  - This note comments on two central issues for fiscal policy design in the UK, highlighted in the recent  Code for Fiscal Stability' proposed by the new Labour government.  The first concerns the merits of the so-called  golden rule of public sector investment' -- the proposition that, over the cycle, government borrowing should not exceed government capital formation.  The second concerns the case for attempting to construct a more comprehensive balance sheet of public sector assets and liabilities, including tangible public sector assets and certain contingent claims. The two main conclusions are that the golden rule is without merit but that, subject to some important caveats, the construction of a more comprehensive government balance sheet is a worthwhile enterprise.
ER  -