Global Recession: A Money Gift Cure?

Abstract

Today, the world economy is at the brink of a major recession at zero lower bound. The recession has been fomented by the underconsumption induced by (i) the increasing income inequality, which is inherent in the neoliberal policymaking followed the last third of a century, and (ii) the declining wages being brought about by the increasing globalization and hence, international competition. And, the zero lower bound has been the aftermath of continuous interest rate reductions to confront the latent recessionary trends by stimulating investment but by increasing at the same time the prices of assets, bonds, and housing inciting several kinds of “bubbles” and inhibiting investment. The policy of “quantitative easing” in the place of interest rate reductions, a surrogate only of the latter has proved to be so far, for the simple reason that the money injections involved to spur business and household demand, are channeled towards the banking system, which withholds and does not pass on the money to the public. A money gift policy in the sense of transferring money directly to the public as a permanent asset for the private sector but not liability for the public sector, activating subsequently the Pigou effect, is advocated herein to be a viable policy alternative out of the current deadlock, ceteris paribus.