I study monetary and fiscal policy in liquidity trap scenario, where the zero bound on the nominal interest rate is initially binding. I adopt a continuous-time formulation of the standard New Keynesian model, which allows for an intuitive, graphical analysis and produces some novel results....

We study how the heterogeneity of information impacts the efficiency of the business cycle and the design of optimal fiscal and monetary policy. We do so within a model that features a standard Dixit-Stiglitz demand structure, introduces dispersed private information about the underlying...

This paper develops a novel theory of the origins of fluctuations. This theory dispenses with the dubious notions of exogenous disturbances to technologies, preferences, or mysterious wedges. Instead, it points out the central role that self-fulfilling expectations can play in shaping short-run...