ABSTRACT
The case for the use of fiscal policy and for governments to operate with an unbalanced budget (whether in surplus or deficit) arises from the simple Keynesian proposition that there is no automatic mechanism which ensures that aggregate demand is sufficient to underpin a high level of economic activity (Kalecki, 1939, Keynes, 1936). The notion that the budget should always be in balance (or even on average in balance) is rejected on the grounds that a balanced budget is generally not compatible with the achievement of high levels of aggregate demand. Further, although interest rates may have some impact on the level of aggregate demand, there are constraints on the extent to which interest rates can be varied (whether for reasons akin to a liquidity trap in operation which prevent the reduction of interest rates below a particular level or for foreign exchange considerations) and there are doubts relating to the potency of interest rates to influence aggregate demand (see Arestis and Sawyer, 2004).
