CHP 10 Income and Spending
CHP 10 Income and Spending
CHP 10 Income and Spending
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MACROECONOMICS
One of thecentral questions ih macroeconomics is why output fluctuates around is
potenial level. Growth is
highly uneven. In business.cycle booms and recessions, out-.
put rises and falls relaiive to the trend
of potential output. Over the
nave been six la_t 40
recessions, in which output declined relative trend or, as inyears there
2008, fell
drastically-and then recoveries. in which output rose relativeto to trend.
This chapter offers a
first theory of these fluctuations in real output
trend. The cornerstone of
this model is ihe mutual interaction relativeto
spending: between output and
. .* . . Spending.determines output and income, but output and income also deter-
mine spending.
*
10-1
AGGREGATE DEMAND AND EQUILIBRIUM OUTPUT
Aggregate demand is the total amouit of
guishing goods demanded in the
economy. Distin-
among goods demanded for
government (G), and as net
consumption (C), for
investment (/), by the
exports (NX), aggregate demand (AD) is determined
by
AD
C +I+G+ NX
()
Output is at its equilibrium
to the level when the quantity of
output produced is equal
quantity demanded. Thus, an is at economy equilibrium output when
Y =
AD =
C+ I+ G + NX
When aggregate (2)
demand-the amount people want to
is unplanned inventory investment or buy-is equal to
not
disinvestment. We summarize this as output, there
IU Y- AD
where lU is (3)
unplanned additions to
inventory. If output is
demand. there is greater than
unplanned inventory investment, 10>> 0. As aggregate
.ates Tiis üt bäck on' prödúction until excess inventory accumu-
equilibrium. Conversely., if output is belowoutput ànd- aggregatc
aggregate
demand are again in
down until demand, inventories
equilibrium is restored. are drawn
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CHAPTER 10INCOME AND SPENDING 199
10-2 THE
CONSUMPTION FUNCTION AND AGGREGATE DEMAND
With
the concept of
equilibrium output firmly defined, we now focus on the dcter
minants of
aggregate demand, and particularly on consumption demand. We focus
on
consumption in part because the consumption sector is so large and in part
because it is easy to see the link between
we omit the
consumption and income. For simplicity.
government and foreign trade, therefore setting both G and NX equal
to zero.
In
practice, the demand for consumption goods is not constant but, rather, increases
with income: Families with higher incomes coosume more than families with lower
incomes, and countries where income is
The
higher have higher levels of total consumption.
relationship between consumption and income is described by the consumption
function.
on
consumption? If it is not spent, it must be saved. Income is either spent or saved;
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200 MACROECONOMICS
AD dD = Y
AD =A + CY
AD
C=C+ cY
S=Y-C. (5)
Equation (5) tells us that, by delinition, saving is equal to income minus
The consumption function in consunption.
call the budget constraint,
equation (4), together with equation (5), which we
implies a savings function. The savings function relates the
level of saving to the level of income.
Substituting the consun1ption
equation (4) into the budget constraint in equation (5) yields the
function
savings function: in
S= Y- C= Y- C- cY -C +(1 = -
c)Y (6)
From equation (6), we see that
saving is
increasing function of the level of income
an
because the marginal
propensity to save (MPS). s=| =c. is positive.
.In other words, aaving increases as income rises.
For instance,
..''. .. suppose the mar
ginal propenaitý-tò consume, c, is 9, meaning that 90 cents out of each extra dollar of
income is consumed. Then the marginal
propensity to save. s, is .I, meaning that the
remaining 10 cents of cach extra dollar of income is saved.
CHAPIER 10-NCOM AND SPENDING
201
C= -1354 +0.97 YD
where Cand YD are each
measured in 2005 dollars per person. Although he relationship
beween ond
consumption disposable income is.,close, not all the points in Figure lie ex
octly on the line. This means that something other than disposoble income is
affecting
Sumption in' any given year. We turn our attention to the other factors determining con
consumption in Chapter 14. Meanwhile it is reassuring that even if equation (4) omits some
important considerations, it fits the real world's consumption-income relationship well.
Total consumption (per copita)
35,000-
08 10
30,000 1 2
25,000 9 29 4
20,000
15,000
64
10,000 - 70
60
62 66
5,000-
0
5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
Disposable income (per capita)*
"FIGURETRELATIÓN`HIP BETWEEN CONSÚMPTION AND DISPOSABLE INCOME.
****** .
(Source: Bturan of conamic Autlysis: Federnal Reserte lcoomic Date (FRED I|)
202 MACROECONOMICS
demand, and Ns
Cave Specified one component of aggregate demand, consumption
ink to income. Now we add investment, government spending and taxes. and foreign
rade to our model, but we assume for the moment that cach is aulonomous, that is.
be independent of income.
aetermined outside the model and specifically assumed to
Later chapters consider investment, the govenment, and foreign trade indetail. Here
we just assume that investmentis I. govemment spending is G, taxés are TA, transiers
are TR, and net exports are NX. Consumption now depends on disposable income,
.. * ** *..** **'"******* ** **
*. . ' . ***.*.
YD = Y-"TA + TR (7)
C C+ cYD =
C + c(Y+ TR- TA) (8).
Aggregate demand is the sum of the consumption function, investment, govern
mentspending, and net exports. Continuing to assume that the govermment sector and
foreign trade are exogenous,
AD C+1+ G+ NX
=
C+dY-TA+TR) +*++ N
(9)
-
[C-TA- TR) +*+ +NX] + cY
A+cY
The aggregate demand function, equation (9), is shown in Figure 10-2. Part of
aggregate demand, A =C-TA TR) +*+G+ MX, isindependentofthe level of
income, or autonomous. But aggregate demand also depends on the level ofincome. It
inereases with the level of income because consumption,demand increases with income.
The aggregate demand schedule is obiained by adding (vertically) the demands for con-
sumption, investment, government spending, and net exports at each level of income. At
the income level Y in Figure 10-2, the level of aggregate demand is AD
The next step is to use the aggregate demand function; AD, from
Figure 10-2 and equa- .
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CHAPIER 10-INCOME AND SPENDING 203
AD
i>0 AD =A+
c
ADO
I+ G+ Nx
C= IC - c(TA TR) + ¢¥
-
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Income, output
arrows show, this process leads to the output level Y. al which current production
exactly matches planned aggregate spending-and unintended inventory changes (IU) are
therefore equal to zero.
The determination of equilibrium output in Figure 10-2 can also be expressed algebra
ically by using equation (9) and the equilibrium condition in the goods market, which is
that output is equal to aggregate demand:
Y= AD (10)
The level of aggregate demand, AD, is specified in equation (9). Substituting for
AD in equation (10). we have the equilibrium condition:
Y= A + cY (11)
Since we have Y on both sides of the equilibrium condition in equation (1), we
can collect the terms and solve for the equilibrium level of income andvutput, dengted...
by Y
(12)
204 MACROECONOMICS
Figure 10-2 sheds light on cquation.(1 1). The position of the aggregatle demand
schedule is character/zed by its slope. c (the marginal propensity to consume), and
ntercept. A (autonomous 'spending). Given the intercept. a steeper aggregate demand
functionas would be implied by a higher marginal propensity to consume-implies
2-higher level of equilibrium income. Similarly. for a given marginal propensity to
consume. a higher level of autonomous spending-in terms of Figure 10-2. a larger
intercept-inmplies a higher equilibrium level of income. These rèsults, suggested by
Fgure 10-2. are easily verified using equation (12), the formula for the equilibrium
level of income.
Thus, the equilibrium level of output is
higher the larger the marginal propen
sity to consume, c, and the higher the level of autonomous spending, A.
Equation (12) shows the level of output as a function of the marginal propensity to
consume and autonomous spending. Frequently, we are interested in knowing how a
We inclyde govemment and forcign tradc in the analysis, We get a morc com-
picte picture reJating
investment to saving and also to net cxpots. Now incone can
Cuner be spent, saved,. or inpaid taxes, so Y =C+ S+: TA -
Rather than
a "corn
using algebra, some people prefcr to think of equation (14) in terms of
economy:" Investment is the leftover com that will be planted for next year's
crop. The sources of corm
investment are con saved by individuals, any corn left
Irom
govermment over
tax collections net of government spending. and any net corn
from abroad. imported
10-3
THE MULTIPLIER
In this section
we develop an answer to the following question: By how much does a SI
increase in autonomous
to be a
spending raise the equilibrium level of income? There appears
simple answer. Since, in equilibrium,
seem that a $I increase in (autonomous)
income equals aggregate.demand it would
income by SI. That answer is wrong. Let demand spending should raise
or
us now see
equilibrium
why.
Suppose first that output increased by-&B to match the
mous spending. This increase in output and income would increased level ofto autono-
induced spending in.turn- give-rise- further
as.consumption
much of the initial $l
rises because the level
of income has risen. How
increase in income would be spent on consumption? Out of an
additional dollar of income, a fraction c is consumed. Assume,
increases further to meet this then, that production
induced expenditure, that is, that output and thus income
increase by 1 tc.That will still leave us with an excess demand, because the
in production and
income by 1 t c will give rise to further induccd expansion
could clearly take a
long time to tell. Does the spending. This story
In Table 10-I process have an end?
we lay out the steps in the chain
increase in autonomous spending, AA. Next, carelully.
more
off with an [The first round starts
duction to meet exactly that
we
allow an
expansion in pro-
increase in demand. Production accordingly
AA. This increase in production gives expands by
via the
rise to an equal increase in income and, theretfore.
marginal propensity to consume,
expenditures of size cAA. Assume again cgives rise in the second round to increased
that production
in
spending.. The production adjustment this time i_ cAA, expands to meet this increase
and so is the increase in
income.This pives ise to athird round of induced
pensity to consume times the increase in income, speuding cqual to the marginal pro-
e(edA) c*SA. Since the marginal
=
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206 MACROECONOMICS
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INCREASE IN
DEMAND
INCREASE IN TOTAL INCREASE
IN INCOME
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cAA cAA (1 + c)J
caA cAA (1 +ctc*)AA
4
AA c'A (1 tc+ c + c)AA
Af we write out the successive rounds of increased spending, starting with the ini-
tial inerease in autonomous demand, we obtain
AAD
A =AY, (16)
From equation (16), therefore, we find that the cumulative
change in aggregate
spending is equal to a multiple of the increase in autonomous
spending-just as we
deduced from equation (12). The multiple 1/(1 - c) is called the multiplier." The
multiplier is the amount by which equilibrium output changes when autonomous
aggregate demand increases by I unit)
(The concept of the multiplier is sufficiently important to create new notation. The
general definition of the multiplier is AY/AA, the change.in equilibrium output when
autonomous demand increases by I
unit.n this specific case, omitting the government
sector and foreign trade, we define the
multiplier as a, where
am (17)
Inspection of the multiplier in equation (17) shows that the larger the
marginal
propensity to consume, the larger the multiplier. For a marginal propensity to consume
of .6, the multiplier is 2.5; for a
marginal propensity to consume of 8, the multiplier
is 5. This is because a high
marginal propensity to consume implies that a larger fraction
of an additional dolar of income will be
consumed, and thus added to aggregate
demand, thereby causing a larger induced increase in demand.)
Table i)-I and eguation (16) derive tihe * * * * * * '*.. *.'.. ..'
Table i0-l and equation (16) derive the .
AD = Y.
AD
AD'=A'+ cY
AA
A D = A+ c¥
AA P .
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Yo Y Yo Y
Income, output
Why focus on the multiplier The reason is that we are developing an explanation
of fuctuations in output. The multiplier suggests that output changes when autonomous
spending (including investment) changes and that the change in output can be larger
than the change in autonomous spending/The multiplier is the formal way of describing
a commonsense If the economy for some reason-for example, a loss in
idea confi
dence that Teduces investment spending-experiences a shock that reduces income.
people whose incomes have gone dowm will spend less, thereby driving equilibrium
income down even further. The multiplier is therefore potentially part of the explanation
of why output fluctuates.)
WARNING. The tem "muliplier is used more generally in economics to mean the effect
* * . *endogenous
on *some
variable (a variable whose level is explained by the theory being studied) of a unit change in. an *
exogenous ***
vari- **. ********
At the same
time, the
expenditure, increasing aggregate demand to level Ad
to the expansion reduces the gap between aggregate demand and
vertical distance FG. The output
marginal propensity to consumégap between demand and output is reduced because the
is less than 1.
Thus, with marginal
in
output will
propensity toconsume less than
unity, a sufficient expansion
restore the balance
the between aggregate demand and
new
equilibrium is indicated
by point E', and the output. In Figure 10-3
Yo The change in income
required therefore
is corresponding level of income is
The
magnitude of the income change AY,%=to Yo-Yo
two factors. The required restore equilibrium depends on
larger the increase in autonomous
by the parallel shift in the spending, represented in Figure 10-3
Furthermore, the larger theaggregate demand schedule, the larger the income change.
aggregate demand marginal propensity to consume--that is, the
schedule-the larger the income steeper the
change.
RECAP
irst. the multiplier dèpends on tax rates as well as the marginal propensity to
Consume. We'll explore why the presence of taxes reduces the multiplier in the next sec-
tion of this
chapter. We go into muich more detail on the consumption function in
Chapter 14, where we'l discuss why the marginal propensity to consumé differs accord-
ng to whether changes in fiscal policy are perceived to be temporary or permanent.
n
Chapter 11, we'll bring interest rates into the piçture. Increases in government pur
Chases and con_umption can push up interest rates, therebý reducing investment.. This
makes the effective mulipher smaller than the muliplier when only consumption is
considered. However, during the Great Recession, the Fed held interest rates constant,
So this potential offset to the simple multiplier model didn't matter during the crisis.
The really big issue affecting the multiplier is one you already know about: the
Slope of the aggregate supply curve. When we study the multiplier, we are asking how
much aggregate demand moves out. The change in GDP depends both on the movement
of the
aggregate demand curve and the slope of the aggregate supply curve. (You may
want to review Section 5-4.) During the Great Recession, the aggregate supply curve
was
arguably
quite Aat. Thismeans
that the aggregate demand multiplier chapter
pretty much determined the-effect of government spending on output, but under more
ofthis
prosperous economic conditions, this might be much less true.
Economists have devoted considerable effort to estimating the multiplier since its
Size is so important for making fiscal policy: These topics are investigated in depth in
laterchapters. Afl things considered, one empirical estimate, due to Stànford Universi
y's Robert Hall, is that in practice the multiplier is around 1.7. Valerie Ramey, of the
University of Califormia, San Diego, puts the estimate as being somewhat smaller. in the
73
range of.8 to 1.5
10-4
THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR
Whenever there is a recession, people expect and demand that the government do aome
thing about it. What can the government do with respect to aggregate demand? The
government directly affects the level of cquilibrium income in two separate ways. First.
government purchases of goods and services, G. are a component of aggregate demand.
For an argument th:t mulkipliers do not differ much between good and bad tinmes. see Michael T. Owyang.
Valerie A. Ramey, and Sarah Zubairy."Are Governnient Spending Multipliers Greater During Periods of
Slack? Evidence irom the 20th Ceñtury Historical Data." Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Paper
2013-004A.
Robert E. Hall. "On the Governmet Purch:tses Muliptier." Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Fall
2009.
Valerie A Ramey. "Can Govenment Purchases Stumulite the Economy? Juurnal of Economic Literulture.
*.*******.*"****",'*"**. . ..
September 2011 '. .************ ****
For a more advanced look at why dhis number is hard to pin downthe answer in part beung we don't have
much experience with episodes as bad as the Great Recession-see Jonathan A. Pauker. "On Measuring the
Eitects of Fical Policy in Recessions." Journal ofEcmomic Liteväture. September 201