La politique fiscale et le taux de croissance désiré

Abstract

Fiscal policy and the target rate of growth In recent years, economic growth has emerged as an important objective of policy, to be considered alongside the price stability and full employment objectives. The author argues that there is no logical obstacle to the use of the fiscal and monetary system to pursue all three objectives simultaneously. He presents a growth model after the character of those of Smithies and Smith, in which elements of the fiscal system appear explicitly as parameters, and the relationship between profits, investment and growth plays a crucial role. Discussion is oriented towards the problem of raising the growth rate to a higher level, and also to the control of inflation. Certain general policy guides are derived from the analysis. First, a rise in the growth rale requires an increase in the savings ratio and (more important) a rise in factor productivity. The fiscal system can contribute to this rise by expanding government investment that lends to an increase in potential output, by specific adjustments in business lax provisions and by a relative increase in the taxation of consumption. Second, a high rate of growth is likely to produce an inflation-prone economy. Policy should aim at a specifically limited rise in the price level, demand-pull inflation being checked by relatively heavy taxation of consumption, and cost-pull inflation probably being best countered by modification of the full-employment target.