The research reported in this set of three working papers focuses on different assumptions about the intertemporal behavior of government policymakers. In particular, we carefully study alternative specifications of intertemporal fiscal closure rules and their impacts on the effectiveness of...

In this working papers, we use a simple neoclassical growth model to illustrate how consumption, investment, and output -- more broadly, the entire dynamic equation system of a model -- can be strongly influenced by alternative specifications of a reaction function describing the intertemporal...

In this paper, I focus on the stabilization properties of alternative simplified approaches to the conduct of monetary policy and fiscal policy. The paper is motivated by questions of topical interest in New Zealand, for example what the costs might be in terms of lost credibility if the Reserve...

In contemporary New Zealand, microeconomics is in the ascendant over macroeconomics, to such an extent that neither the Reserve Bank nor the Cabinet and Treasury appear to give much attention to shorter-run macroeconomic stabilization as a policy goal. This lecture examines why thoughtful New...