Does Household Debt Matter to Financial Fragility?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Minsky, the father of the financial instability hypothesis was concerned with how instability in business sector balance sheets could contribute to overall financial instability. Minsky did not consider the household balance to be important, and until 1990 taking that perspective was not problematic. However, as the level of household net wealth increased significantly through the 1990s, the household sector became an important player in the financial sector balances game. This article analyzes the role of household debt in economic growth from the post-Keynesian approach. We find that household debt does matter to financial stability. It influences the consumption levels of households, the rate of return on mortgage and other debt held by banks and other financial institutions, the rate of return on the production of goods and services, and the overall well-being of households in our economy. The issue of household debt can be tackled from two sides. From the income side, creating a work environment favorable to unions and a job guarantee program would help. From the expenditure side, providing Medicare, childcare, eldercare, higher education, and potentially housing, would remove the reasons why household acquire sometimes unsustainable debt.