Structural shocks and the fiscal theory of the price level in the sticky price model

This paper examines the effects of various structural shocks in the passive monetary-active fiscal regime in which the fiscal theory of the price level is valid, and compares these effects to those suggested by conventional theory (the active monetary-passive fiscal regime), within a framework of the New Keynesian sticky price model. The results suggest that the effects of structural shocks are substantially different in the passive monetary-active fiscal regime. First, a monetary contraction (an increase in the interest-rate) increases the inflation rate persistently, and increases output with lags. Second, a positive government spending shock leads to a consumption rise in the model that predicts a consumption fall based on conventional theory. Third, in response to aggregate-demand and aggregate-supply shocks, a period of inflation above (or below) the steady-state is followed by a period of inflation below (or above) the steady-state. This inflation reversal is also found in the impulse responses of the estimated VAR models during the 1940's and 1950's, which suggests that the passive monetary-active fiscal regime seems to be actually in place during that period.