A Model of Secular Stagnation: Theory and Quantitative Evaluation
Abstract
We formalize the idea of secular stagnation and evaluate it quantitatively. Secular stagnation can arise if there is a persistent decline in the natural rate of interest, which, if severe enough, results in a chronically binding zero lower bound. Our theory carries fundamentally different implications for monetary/fiscal policy and output/inflation dynamics relative to the standard New Keynesian model. Slow-moving forces at work across many advanced economies: low productivity growth, low population growth, higher life expectancy, falling prices of capital goods, increasing inequality, and deleveraging can generate a secular stagnation. Using a quantitative, 56 generation lifecycle model calibrated to US data, we provide numerical experiments in which these forces are strong enough to generate a natural rate of interest for the US from −1.5% to −2% in the stationary equilibrium. In this scenario, given the current inflation target and fiscal policy configuration, our model predicts the zero lower bound is likely to remain problematic for the foreseeable future
Link
https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/workshops/research/2016/pdf/rba-workshop-2016-mehrotra.pdf