Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
In view of the above, clearly discuss and analyze the Monetarist System and their tenets.
AGBO EBUBE EDITH
2017/249475
Monetarism
Monetarism is the theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy.
Monetary theory posits that a change in money supply is a key driver of economic activity. A simple formula, the equation of exchange, governs monetary theory: MV = PQ. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has three main levers to control the money supply: the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations.
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.[1] Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.[2]
CPI 1914-2022
Inflation
Deflation
M2 money supply increases Year/Year
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to reject Keynesian economics and criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.[3]
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve,[4] Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Description
Edit
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.[5] While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.[6]
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes.[7][unreliable source?][8] With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis
Monetary system is the assets which make up a country’s MONEY SUPPLY and the institutions involved in deposit-taking, money transmission and the provision of credit facilities, together constitute the monetary side of the ECONOMY.
The money supply consists of a number of assets (banknotes, coins etc.), denominated in terms of MONETARY UNITS (pounds and pence in the case of the UK). The institutions involved in handling money include various BANKS, FINANCE HOUSES, BUILDING SOCIETIES etc. The monetary system of a country is controlled by its CENTRAL BANK which uses a number of techniques to regulate the supply of money and interest rates
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Monetarist Theory – Equation
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
SUMMARY
1. The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
2. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
3. Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
NAME: ONYISHI RITA IFEBUCHE
DEPARTMENT: EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
UNIT: SPECIAL EDUCATION/ECONOMICS
REG: 2018/243757
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
ASSIGNMENT
QUESTION; UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM.
ANSWER:Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism. The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.The monetarist theory draws its roots from two almost diametrically opposed ideas: the hard money policies which dominated monetary theory in the late nineteenth century, and the theories of economist John Maynard Keynes, who proposed a demand-driven model for determining the national money supply which would later prove the basis of macroeconomics. Keynes, who theorized economic panic to stem from an insufficient national money supply leading the nation toward an alternate currency followed by eventual economic collapse, focused his theories on the value of currency stability to maintain national economic health. Milton Friedman, in contrast, focused on price stability to ensure economic health and sought a stable equilibrium between the supply of and the demand for money to bring about such well-being.Many monetarists resurrected the former view that market economies prove inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. This belief in the stability of free-market economies also asserted that active demand management, in particular fiscal policy, is unnecessary and in fact likely to be economically harmful. The basis of this argument centered around an equilibrium formed between “stimulus” fiscal spending and future interest rates. In effect, Friedman’s model argued that current fiscal spending creates as much of a drag on the economy by increasing interest rates as it does to create consumption. According to monetarists, fiscal policy was shown to have no real effect on total demand, but merely shifted demand from the investment sector to the consumer sector.
Nwokedi Samuel Chinenye 2019/241213
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after
a decade of increasing influence,
monetarism’s reputation began to
decline for three main reasons. One was
the growing belief, based on plausible
interpretations of experience, that
money demand is in practice highly
“unstable,” shifting significantly and
unpredictably from one quarter to the
next. The second was the rise of rational
expectations economics, which split
analysts antagonistic to Keynesian
activism into distinct camps. (A majority
of monetarists themselves soon
embraced the rational expectations
hypothesis.) The third was the Federal
Reserve’s famous “monetarist
experiment” of 1979-1982. The latter
episode warrants an extended
discussion.
Adigwe Chibuikem Anthony
2019/245463
Monetarism, a term first used by Brunner in 1968, can be understood in two ways. The first relates to the economic thought that sees in the quantity of money the major source of economic activity and its disruptions (especially inflation), as well as believing that targeting the growth of money supply is the best monetary policy. Secondly, it refers to a large group of economists adherent to these thoughts, lead by Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of economics.
This paradigm, which gained popularity in the 1960s, relates closely to neoclassical economics, believing that free flow of credit and interest rates, as well as a laissez faire attitude is the best way to go, since limited public intervention and a competitive economic system will grant better results than those resulting from Keynesian economics. However, since monetarists consider monetary policy more effective, government control over money supply is required. Also, since monetarists believed in the importance of the quantity of money, the equation of exchange regained popularity.
Monetarists view fiscal policy less effective than monetary policy because of the low interest elasticity of money demand. Therefore, when using the IS-LM model, monetarists consider the IS curve more elastic than the one used by Keynesians, and a LM curve more inelastic. This is the reason why, when using the monetarist’ IS-LM model, public investment created by fiscal policy creates a crowding out effect over private investment, reducing the effectiveness of public spending. However, even though monetary policy is more reliable, its effects may take a while to be noted in the economy, and therefore its implementation can be difficult.
Concerning the Phillips curve, monetarists criticise the money illusion implied in it, which is the basis for the relationship between inflation and unemployment. They believe that, given an unanticipated higher inflation and the subsequent decrease in unemployment, the trade-off shown in the Phillips curve will hold. However this will not be the case when monetary policies are anticipated, implying that the trade-off between inflation and unemployment does not apply in the long run. This is a clear example of the learning process introduced in the Adaptive Expectations hypothesis, firstly formulated (though not under its widely known name) by Irving Fisher in his article “The Purchasing Power of Money”, 1911, and popularized by Phillip Cagan in 1956 and by Friedman, in his paper “The Role of Monetary Policy”, 1968, where he also introduced the concept of natural rate of unemployment, which is the rate that the economy will reach after each movement along the Phillips curve. It must be highlighted that, contrary to New Classical Macroeconomics studies and its Rational expectations hypothesis, monetarists believe that the trade off can be systematically exploited in the short run, as long as each policy is unanticipated.
Given the low effectiveness of fiscal policy as well as the risks of high inflation caused by systematic monetary policies, monetarists defend a commitment by the monetary authorities to steady monetary growth, and reject discretionary and politically driven monetary policies, because of the uncertainty they create.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis
Monetary system is the assets which make up a country’s MONEY SUPPLY and the institutions involved in deposit-taking, money transmission and the provision of credit facilities, together constitute the monetary side of the ECONOMY.
The money supply consists of a number of assets (banknotes, coins etc.), denominated in terms of MONETARY UNITS (pounds and pence in the case of the UK). The institutions involved in handling money include various BANKS, FINANCE HOUSES, BUILDING SOCIETIES etc. The monetary system of a country is controlled by its CENTRAL BANK which uses a number of techniques to regulate the supply of money and interest rates
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after
a decade of increasing influence,
monetarism’s reputation began to
decline for three main reasons. One was
the growing belief, based on plausible
interpretations of experience, that
money demand is in practice highly
“unstable,” shifting significantly and
unpredictably from one quarter to the
next. The second was the rise of rational
expectations economics, which split
analysts antagonistic to Keynesian
activism into distinct camps. (A majority
of monetarists themselves soon
embraced the rational expectations
hypothesis.) The third was the Federal
Reserve’s famous “monetarist
experiment” of 1979-1982. The latter
episode warrants an extended
discussion.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after
a decade of increasing influence,
monetarism’s reputation began to
decline for three main reasons. One was
the growing belief, based on plausible
interpretations of experience, that
money demand is in practice highly
“unstable,” shifting significantly and
unpredictably from one quarter to the
next. The second was the rise of rational
expectations economics, which split
analysts antagonistic to Keynesian
activism into distinct camps. (A majority
of monetarists themselves soon
embraced the rational expectations
hypothesis.) The third was the Federal
Reserve’s famous “monetarist
experiment” of 1979-1982. The latter
episode warrants an extended
discussion.
MBADIWE KELECHI EMMANUEL
2019/250965
Economics
Monetarist system is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. It is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to the supply shocks. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
During the 1970s, inflation rose in the United States, as well as in many other industrial nations, to levels unprecedented on a multiyear basis during periods of relative peace. This occurred as a consequence of various “shocks”—oil price increases, the Vietnam War, and especially the 1971–1973 demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates (itself caused largely by the failure of the United States to maintain the gold value of the dollar). This demise left central bankers with a major new responsibility; namely, to provide a nominal anchor for national fiat currencies to replace the gold standard. The Federal Reserve announced several times during the 1970s that it intended to bring inflation under control, but various attempts were unsuccessful. Then, on October 6, 1979, the Fed, under Paul Volcker’s chairmanship, announced and put into effect a new attempt involving drastically revised operating procedures that had some prominent features in common with monetarist recommendations. In particular, the Fed would try to hit specified monthly targets for the growth rate of M1, with operating procedures that emphasized control over a narrow and controllable monetary aggregate, nonborrowed reserves (i.e., bank reserves minus borrowings from the Fed). The M1 targets were intended to bring inflation down from double-digit levels to unspecified but much lower values.
In retrospect, the events that occurred from October 1979 to September 1982 are widely viewed as the crucial beginning of a necessary and successful attack on inflation that led, eventually, to the worldwide low-inflation environment of the 1990s. At the time, however, the “experiment” seemed anything but successful to many Americans. Short-term interest rates jumped dramatically in late 1979 under the tightened conditions, and 1980 witnessed a major fall in output in one quarter followed by a major jump in the next, due primarily to the imposition, and then removal, of credit controls. Finally, in 1981 and into the middle of 1982, a sustained period of monetary stringency brought about the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s and began to bring inflation down, more rapidly than many economists anticipated ,toward acceptable values.
NAME: OKAFORUKWU CHIZARAM SANDRA
REG NO : 2017/249551
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory that holds that governments can promote economic stability by focusing on the rate of growth of the money supply. It is essentially a set of beliefs that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a school of thought in economics that holds that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As money becomes more available in the system, so does aggregate demand for goods and services. An increase in aggregate demand promotes job creation, which lowers the unemployment rate and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, a monetarist economic tool, is used to adjust interest rates, which in turn control the money supply. When interest rates rise, people have more incentive to save rather than spend, reducing or contracting the money supply. When interest rates are lowered as part of an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing falls, allowing people to borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply relatively stable, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the economy’s natural growth. Due to the inflationary effects that can be caused by excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, the father of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be conducted by targeting the rate of growth of the money supply in order to maintain economic and price stability. Friedman proposed the K-percent rule in his book A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960, arguing that the money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal GDP and expressed as a fixed percentage per year. As a result, the money supply is expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate and plan for changes in the money supply every year, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept low.
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that holds that changes in the money supply are the most important determinants of the rate of economic growth and the business cycle’s behavior. When monetarist theory is implemented in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, have significant influence over economic growth rates. Keynesian economics is a competing theory to monetarist economics.
Monetarist theory holds that as a country’s money supply expands, so will economic activity—and vice versa. A simple formula governs monetarist theory:
MV = PQ,
where M denotes the money supply,
V denotes the velocity (the number of times per year that the average dollar is spent),
P denotes the price of goods and services, and
Q denotes the quantity of goods and services.
Assuming constant V, increasing M causes either P, Q, or both P and Q to rise.
When the economy is close to full employment, general price levels tend to rise faster than production of goods and services. When there is slack in the economy, monetarist theory predicts that Q will rise faster than P.
NAME: UGWUOKE KOSISOCHUWU PRECIOUS
REG NO: 2019/243547
MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Who Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits, and credits is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. the economy’s performance, its growth or contraction can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate. Monetarists are economists and policymakers who subscribe to the theory of monetarism. Famous monetarists include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and Margaret Thatcher.
MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
MONETARISM
What is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.¬
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by non-monetarist economists.
At its most basics
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.¬
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).¬
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.¬
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.¬ Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
THE GREAT DEBATE
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.¬
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
In 1979, Paul A. Volcker became chairman of the Fed and made fighting inflation its primary objective. The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.¬ Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983 but monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with upmost economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed. predictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
monetarism or total amount of money in an economy in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits, is the main driver of short-term economic activity, according to the monetarism school of economic theory. The most prominent proponent of monetarism is typically considered as American economist Milton Friedman. Friedman and other monetarists promote macroeconomic theories and practices that significantly depart from those of the Keynesian school, which once held sway. During the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the monetarist approach gained popularity.Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Related Topics: economics quantity theory of money money supply equation of exchange
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent.
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Key People: Margaret Thatcher
Related Topics: economics quantity theory of money money supply equation of exchange
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
NAME: ONYISHI RITA IFEBUCHE
DEPARTMENT: EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
UNIT: SPECIAL EDUCATION/ECONOMICS
REG:2018/243757
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACROECONOMICS THEORY 11
ASSIGNMENT ON ECO 204
QUESTION:MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM?
ANSWER:
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists believers of the monetarism theory warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy government spending and tax policy. Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor.Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Akaenweokwu Anthony Nnamdi
2015/202682
Monetarism is the theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy. According to Milton Friedman, Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effect of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
Monetarism school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency and bank deposit) is the chief determination demand side of short run economics activities. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as a montarism leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarist advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became known during the 1970’s and 80’s. The monetarist equation is expressed as MV=PQ where M is the supply of money, where V is the velocity at which many is been supplied in the country.
P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is Sold and Q is the quantity of goods and services produced.
The equation MV=PQ explains that as money supply increases with a constant and predictable V one can expect an increase in either price or quantity. An increase in quantity means that price will remain relatively constant, whereas an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity increase in quantity of goods and services produced. Therefore when there is a change In money supply, it directly affect and determine production employment and price levels . The effects of changes in the money supply, however become manifest only after a significant period of time.
The monetarism theory also says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth .As the money supply increases people demand more . Factories produce more and creating new jobs. The monetarist warns that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and Job creation . But in the long-run increasing money supply increases inflation, as demand outstrip supply, prices will rise to make a monetarist believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy. Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That would increase interest rate..
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONETARISM
The theoretical foundationis the quantity theory of money.
The economy is inherently stable. Market works well when left to themselves.
The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy.
Fiscal policy y often a bad policy.
TENETS OF MONETARISM
The monetarist believe the economy is self regulating.
Changes in velocity and the money supply can change aggregate demand.
Changes in the velocity and the money supply will change the price level and the real GDP in the short run but only if the price level in the long run.
The monetarist believe monetary policy is more effective fiscal policy
They also said that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply
They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than normal rate
They view velocity as generally stable. Which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply.
L.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.
L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
NAME: ALOZIE UCHE DANIEL
REG NO: 2019/245679
COURSE: MACRO ECONOMICS
COURE CODE: ECO 204
Monetarists believe that the economy can have stability, when they is a targeted control on the growth rate at which money is supplied in a nations economy.
The monetary system and monetary policy according to monetarism and monetarist economists is a key tool in enhancing the economy and economic activities being that monetary policy affects money supply by controlling interest rates and the money in stock of a nation,it will also affect real GDP and National income.
Milton Friedman,a monetarist economist whom was a key figure in the monetarism ideology,suggested that the cause of inflation in the US economy in the 1970’s was as a result of an excess increase in the supply of money in the central bank of the US and in their federal reserve in the 1970’s.
The tenets of monetarism:
1. Long run monetary neutrality: This implies that an increase in the money supplied in an economy and also in the money in stock in the economy in the long-run does not affect consumption and output.
2. Short-run monetary non neutrality: This implies that an increase in the money supplied in an economy and in the money in stock in a nations economy in the short run,temporarily affects output and employment because wages and salaries are flexible.
3. Normal monetary movements: An increase in money supplied and in the money stock,should match economic growth.
For example, If there is a 2 percent increase in the real GDP, there should be a corresponding 2 percent increase in the money supplied.
NAME: OKAFORUKWU CHIZARAM SANDRA
REG;2017/249551
DEPARTMENT :ECONOMICS
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory that holds that governments can promote economic stability by focusing on the rate of growth of the money supply. It is essentially a set of beliefs that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a school of thought in economics that holds that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As money becomes more available in the system, so does aggregate demand for goods and services. An increase in aggregate demand promotes job creation, which lowers the unemployment rate and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, a monetarist economic tool, is used to adjust interest rates, which in turn control the money supply. When interest rates rise, people have more incentive to save rather than spend, reducing or contracting the money supply. When interest rates are lowered as part of an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing falls, allowing people to borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply relatively stable, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the economy’s natural growth. Due to the inflationary effects that can be caused by excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, the father of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be conducted by targeting the rate of growth of the money supply in order to maintain economic and price stability. Friedman proposed the K-percent rule in his book A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960, arguing that the money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal GDP and expressed as a fixed percentage per year. As a result, the money supply is expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate and plan for changes in the money supply every year, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept low.
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that holds that changes in the money supply are the most important determinants of the rate of economic growth and the business cycle’s behavior. When monetarist theory is implemented in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, have significant influence over economic growth rates. Keynesian economics is a competing theory to monetarist economics.
Monetarist theory holds that as a country’s money supply expands, so will economic activity—and vice versa. A simple formula governs monetarist theory:
MV = PQ,
where M denotes the money supply,
V denotes the velocity (the number of times per year that the average dollar is spent),
P denotes the price of goods and services, and
Q denotes the quantity of goods and services.
Assuming constant V, increasing M causes either P, Q, or both P and Q to rise.
When the economy is close to full employment, general price levels tend to rise faster than production of goods and services. When there is slack in the economy, monetarist theory predicts that Q will rise faster than P.
Monetarists are economists and policymakers who subscribe to the theory of monetarism.
Monetarists believe that regulating the money supply is the most effective and direct way of regulating the economy
Famous monetarists include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and Margaret Thatcher.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Tenets is a principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy.These similar tenets are explained below :
A popular story promoted by Monetarist School thinkers is the one about Milton Friedman discrediting the Phillips Curve. For those not familiar with the latter, it’s the incorrect theory embraced by Keynesians that says economic growth is the cause of inflation.
Monetarists correctly argued that inflation is always a monetary phenomenon, but the newly revived theory that was long ago dismissed even by Friedman is merely a variation of the much discredited Phillips Curve. To put it plainly, monetarism is a parallel version of Keynesian demand management. Whereas Keynesians naively believe that government spending is a source of economic growth, monetarists in a similarly naïve way believe that money creation for the sake of it boosts the economy. Much as Keynesian demand through government spending allegedly increases growth and the price level, so does monetarist money creation per the other School’s theory. One School thinks government boosts growth, the other thinks money creation does, and both come to the same conclusion that inflation can be the end result of their central planning that allegedly leads to prosperity first. Comically, both sides believe that if they can manage the spending and money creation, that their expertise ensures a lack of what they presume inflation to be.
So while monetarism is associated with Friedman, and as such is viewed by some as ‘free market,’ make no mistake about what it really is. Monetarism, like its Keynesian twin, is central planning. Keynesians once again believe that growth is as simple as Washington taxing or borrowing away resources from the private sector so that it can be spent from the Commanding Heights. The juvenile logic underlying this school of thought is that when “aggregate demand” is down, governments must take funds from the private sector and spend without regard to the economic value of the spending.
Monetarists similarly focus on “aggregate demand,” but in their case they think it can be achieved through the printing press. As a recent article promoting the theory explained, more vibrant economic growth can be had with a “new monetary-policy regime that moves nominal spending back toward its pre-crisis trend and keeps its future growth stable.” Considering income, monetarists believe that, as opposed to investors, CEOs and market forces dictating what we earn, that the supposedly wise minds at the Fed can do a better job.
Arguably the biggest irony, one lost on these all-too-similar Schools of thought, is that their naïve hearts are in the right place. They want people to work and have more, so that they can consume more. The problem for proponents of both is that they clearly slept through their college lectures on Say’s Law, the latter a tautology that says production is the source of demand.
Ironic also is that these twin ideologies both put the cart before the horse. Keynesians believe government spending is the path to economic growth, as opposed to an effect of same
Monetarists desire unstable money that floats in value, meaning money that lacks credibility and that isn’t highly demanded. In short, monetarism is its own worst enemy.
What’s perhaps most comical about these two Schools, and it speaks to just how similar they are, is that both sides think a lack of their economic poison is at the heart of our malaise. Readers are surely familiar with Paul Krugman’s frequent Keynesian droolings about how the U.S. economy suffers because the federal government hasn’t spent enough of our money. Monetarists claim much the same; their view that the economy hasn’t recovered because our central bank hasn’t printed enough of our money. How these two Schools are enemies is one of life’s major mysteries given how they both put demand on a pedestal above all else, and both are convinced economic rebirth is only a trillion dollars of spending or many more trillions of dollar printing away.
The sad truth is that the U.S. economy struggles today thanks to the imposition of both pathetic ideologies. Government spending has risen to nosebleed levels alongside dollar creation in a similarly grotesque way. The economy sags as a result. Both sides should walk away from the discussion with the visible failures of their ideas well in mind. Only then, as in only when these adolescent twins cease poisoning the U.S. economy, will it resume the growth path that prevailed in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Monetarists are economists and policymakers who subscribe to the theory of monetarism.
Monetarists believe that regulating the money supply is the most effective and direct way of regulating the economy
Famous monetarists include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and Margaret Thatcher.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Tenets is a principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy.These similar tenets are explained below :
A popular story promoted by Monetarist School thinkers is the one about Milton Friedman discrediting the Phillips Curve. For those not familiar with the latter, it’s the incorrect theory embraced by Keynesians that says economic growth is the cause of inflation.
Monetarists correctly argued that inflation is always a monetary phenomenon, but the newly revived theory that was long ago dismissed even by Friedman is merely a variation of the much discredited Phillips Curve. To put it plainly, monetarism is a parallel version of Keynesian demand management. Whereas Keynesians naively believe that government spending is a source of economic growth, monetarists in a similarly naïve way believe that money creation for the sake of it boosts the economy. Much as Keynesian demand through government spending allegedly increases growth and the price level, so does monetarist money creation per the other School’s theory. One School thinks government boosts growth, the other thinks money creation does, and both come to the same conclusion that inflation can be the end result of their central planning that allegedly leads to prosperity first. Comically, both sides believe that if they can manage the spending and money creation, that their expertise ensures a lack of what they presume inflation to be.
So while monetarism is associated with Friedman, and as such is viewed by some as ‘free market,’ make no mistake about what it really is. Monetarism, like its Keynesian twin, is central planning. Keynesians once again believe that growth is as simple as Washington taxing or borrowing away resources from the private sector so that it can be spent from the Commanding Heights. The juvenile logic underlying this school of thought is that when “aggregate demand” is down, governments must take funds from the private sector and spend without regard to the economic value of the spending.
Monetarists similarly focus on “aggregate demand,” but in their case they think it can be achieved through the printing press. As a recent article promoting the theory explained, more vibrant economic growth can be had with a “new monetary-policy regime that moves nominal spending back toward its pre-crisis trend and keeps its future growth stable.” Considering income, monetarists believe that, as opposed to investors, CEOs and market forces dictating what we earn, that the supposedly wise minds at the Fed can do a better job.
Arguably the biggest irony, one lost on these all-too-similar Schools of thought, is that their naïve hearts are in the right place. They want people to work and have more, so that they can consume more. The problem for proponents of both is that they clearly slept through their college lectures on Say’s Law, the latter a tautology that says production is the source of demand.
Ironic also is that these twin ideologies both put the cart before the horse. Keynesians believe government spending is the path to economic growth, as opposed to an effect of same
Monetarists desire unstable money that floats in value, meaning money that lacks credibility and that isn’t highly demanded. In short, monetarism is its own worst enemy.
What’s perhaps most comical about these two Schools, and it speaks to just how similar they are, is that both sides think a lack of their economic poison is at the heart of our malaise. Readers are surely familiar with Paul Krugman’s frequent Keynesian droolings about how the U.S. economy suffers because the federal government hasn’t spent enough of our money. Monetarists claim much the same; their view that the economy hasn’t recovered because our central bank hasn’t printed enough of our money. How these two Schools are enemies is one of life’s major mysteries given how they both put demand on a pedestal above all else, and both are convinced economic rebirth is only a trillion dollars of spending or many more trillions of dollar printing away.
The sad truth is that the U.S. economy struggles today thanks to the imposition of both pathetic ideologies. Government spending has risen to nosebleed levels alongside dollar creation in a similarly grotesque way. The economy sags as a result. Both sides should walk away from the discussion with the visible failures of their ideas well in mind. Only then, as in only when these adolescent twins cease poisoning the U.S. economy, will it resume the growth path that prevailed in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Chukwudolue kamsi Edward 2019/244066
Monetarist system is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. It is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to the supply shocks. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money.
People who believe in monetarist system warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetary output.
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
* Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
* Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
* Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
* Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
* Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
M
V
=
P
Q
where:
M
=
money supply
V
=
velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P
=
average price of a good or service
Q
=
quantity of goods and services sold
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
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Dike Nwachukwu Onyedikachukwu
2019/241349
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism. Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to reject Keynesian economics and criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.[5] While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. unreliable source? With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
Most monetarists oppose the gold standard. Friedman viewed a pure gold standard as impractical. For example, whereas one of the benefits of the gold standard is that the intrinsic limitations to the growth of the money supply by the use of gold would prevent inflation, if the growth of population or increase in trade outpaces the money supply, there would be no way to counteract deflation and reduced liquidity (and any attendant recession) except for the mining of more gold. But he also admitted that if a government was willing to surrender control over its monetary policy and not to interfere with economic activities, a gold-based economy would be possible.
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan argued that the 1990s decoupling was explained by a virtuous cycle of productivity and investment on one hand, and a certain degree of “irrational exuberance” in the investment sector on the other.
There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them.”
These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
HEZEKIAH JOY CHIWONKE
2019/245662
ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY
hezekiahjoy224@gmail.com
THE MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Economic stability is the absence of excessive fluctuations in the macro economy. It is to this end that the Keynesian economic school of thought (Fiscalists) and the adherents of Monetarism strive to showcase the fiscal policy and monetary policy respectively as a veritable tool. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of government in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is a macro economic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. The monetarists emphasize that the role of money plays key in National income. Basically, they claim all recessions and depressions are caused by severe contraction of money and credit, and also booms and inflations by excessive increases in the money supply.
Professor Milton Friedman (1912- 2006) was the foremost exponent of the Monetarist Revolution. He is associated with the Chicago school which believes that the government should have little to no involvement in free market activities and that the best outcomes result when these markets allocate resources in an economy. His theory of monetarism stresses the importance of monetary policy as well as proposes that changes in the money supply have immediate and long term effects. Criticizing John Maynard Keynes’s emphasis on fiscal policy and making a restatement of Irving Fisher’s quantity theory of money, he laid emphasis on monetary policy and the quantity theory of money, which was what became known as Monetarism.
Friedman particularly asserts that the quantity theory of money is in the first instance a theory of demand for money, and not a theory of output, or of money, or of the price level as Fisher stated. Friedman stated that the demand for money must be influenced by the same factors that influence the demand for any other asset. He applied the theory of asset demand to money. For him, the demand of money should be a function of resources available to individuals (their wealth) and the expected returns on other assets relative to the expected return on money. Thus, money is an asset or capital good. Like Keynes, Friedman recognized that people want to hold certain amount of real money balances ( M/P) which is the quantity of money in real terms. Friedman’s formulation of the demand for money is given as :
M/P = f ( y, w, Rm, Rb, Re, Gp, u)
Where M: total stock of money demand
P: the price level
y: the real income
w: fraction of wealth in non-human form
Rm: expected nominal rate of return on money
Rb: expected rate of return on bonds including expected changes in their prices
Re: expected nominal rate of return on equities including expected changes in their prices.
Gp: expected rate of change of prices of goods and services and hence the nominal rate of return on physical assets.
u: other variables other than income.
This demand for money function depicts the reason why money is held and as such determines the total volume of assets held such as money ,physical assets, total wealth, human wealth e.t.c. But for Fisher, PT I.e. price level multiplied by the total amount of goods and services exchanged for money, gives the total demand for money.
Furthermore, for Friedman total wealth implies permanent income which is the average expected yield on wealth during its lifetime. This wealth is categorized into five different forms, which are; bonds, money, equities, human capital and physical goods. In contrast with Keynes’s view that support short-term solutions to spur consumer spending and the economy, in other words, government can spur spending by making a tax cut temporarily, Friedman showed that people adjusted their annual spending habits in response to real changes in their lifetime income (permanent income) and not in response to changes in their current income. This was Friedman’s first launch of attack on one of the assumptions of Keynesian models.
Notwithstanding, in his restatement of the quantity theory of money, the Supply of money is independent of the demand for money and is unstable due to the actions of monetary authorities, unlike the demand for money which is stable implying therefore that the demand for money is a stable function of people’s income. Professor Friedman defines the money supply at any moment of time as “literally the number of dollars people are carrying in their pockets, the number of dollars they have to their credit at banks or dollars they have to their credit at banks in the form of demand deposits and also commercial bank time deposits.” Time deposits are fixed deposits of customers in a commercial banks. Such deposits earn a fixed rate of interest varying with the time period for which the amount is deposited. Time deposits possess liquidity although, it doesn’t possess perfect liquidity as the amount lying in them can be withdrawn immediately by cheques, but the customer has to give a notice to the bank which allows the withdrawal after charging a penal interest rate from the depositor. His definition of money is more appropriate from the point of view of monetary policy as the central bank can exercise control over a wide area that includes both demand and time deposits held by commercial banks. His view on money supply is that it is exogenously determined by the central bank. For the Monetarists, the changes in the money supply affect aggregate demand through effects on a wide range of assets than the bonds only ,as Keynesians hold. And this view is based on their assertion that money is an asset. For instance, if the central bank increases the money supply, it affects interest rates in three ways. First there is liquidity effect, thereby causing a short-run reduction in interest rates, which will spur people to sell securities and as such will increase their holdings of money so that spend such excess money balances on financial assets and consumer goods. Then we have the output effect as the increase in aggregate expenditures on assets and goods will tend to raise output, employment and income, also the interest rates will rise. Finally, we have the price expectations effect which occurs due to the expectations of lenders that inflation will continue. With all these, the Monetarists are trying to prove that monetary policy has greater influence on economic activity as opposed to the Keynesian view that the monetary policy is less effective because of the relative inelasticity of aggregate expenditure.
Conclusively, the monetarists argue that economic recessions and expansions are caused by decreases and increases of the money supply. And as such Professor Friedman in his book A Monetary History of The U.S. (1963), held the US Fed responsible for the Great Depression as they significantly shrunk the money supply by over a third between 1929 and 1933. This is why the Monetarists advocate an annual fixed percentage growth in the money supply to allow for a natural growth. However the Keynesians find monetary policy ineffective for controlling severe depressions and thus depend upon fiscal policy for this, though they combine both policies for controlling booms and inflations.
REFERENCES
Macroeconomics J.L. JHIGHAN
https://www.Britannica.com>topics
https://www.economics help.org
https://www.investopedia.com>terms
https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (PQ) in the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
NKWUDA CHIAMAKA CALISTA (external student)
2016/233042
calista5453@gmail.com
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
ECO 204
MACROECONOMICS
ASSIGNMENT
QUESTION
clearly discuss and analyze the Monetarist System and their tenets.
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
A Rel-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF COMBINED SOCIAL
SCIENCES
(ECONOMICS/PSYCHOLOGY)
TOPIC:
MONETERISM AND MONETERIST SYSTEM
NAME:
IFESINACHI CHIDINMA ADA
REG NO:
2019/246106
COURSE TITLE:
MACRO ECONOMICS II
COURSE CODE:
Eco 204
February,2022
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa.
MILTON FRIEDMAN AND MONETARISM
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARISM VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand and thus velocity influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange,but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Reference:
https://www.britannica.com
https://www.investopedia.com
1). When external dis-economies in production is present,private marginal cost will be lower than social marginal cost. external dis-economies of scale occurs when an industry growing in size causes negative externalities and rising long-run average costs. Alternatively,the competition for scarce resources may push up the cost of rent/labour/raw materials.
External dis-economies in production is caused mainly because of the rise of undesirable by-product of a production process which causes over-prodution. Such un-wanted by-product are a natural consequences of many production processes.Thebsocial problems associated with external dis-economies arises when certain scarce resources are treated as if they were free goods because of fault specification of property rights, or because it is difficult to identify in some quantitative way who causes the nuisance or who suffers from it (or both), or because the administrative costs of solving the problems may be more costly than the nuisance itself.
2). The government tries to combat market inequities through regulation, taxation, and subsidies. Government may also intervene in markets to promote general economics fairness. Maximizing social welfare is one of the most common and best understood reasons for government intervention. The primary means by which market failure can be corrected is through government intervention. This requires the government to pay legislation,such as entrust policies,and incorporate various price mechanisms,such as taxes and subsidies.
3). It is more likely that services will be rationed let to longer waiting lists and some treatments not available. Government health care will require higher tax. Higher income tax may lead to lower incentives to work (though while taxes will rise,health insurance costs will be lower).
EKECHUKWU IFEANYI PAUL
2019/249227
ECONOMICS EDUCATION
MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. .THE MONETARIST VIEW that changes in the money stock area primary determinant of changes in total spending, and should thereby be given major emphasis in economic stabilization programs, has been of growing interest in recent years. From the mid-1930’s to the mid-1960’s. monetary policy received little emphasis in economic stabilization policy. Presumed failure of monetary policy during the early years of the Great Depression, along with the development and general acceptance of Keynesian economics, resulted in a main emphasis on fiscal actions — Federal Government spending and taxing programs — in economic stabilization plans. Monetary policy, insofar as it received any attention, was generally expressed in terms of market rates of interest. Growing recognition of the importance of money and other monetary aggregates in the determination of spending, output, and prices has been fostered by the apparent failure of stabilization policy to curb the inflation of the last half of the l 960’s. Sharply rising market interest rates w’ere interpreted to indicate significant monetary restraint, while the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 was considered a major move toward fiscal restraint. Despite these policy developments, total spending continued to rise rapidly until late 1969, and the rate of inflation accelerated. Those holding to the monetarist view were not surprised by this lack of success.
TENETS OF MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMICS
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
At its most basic The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates. Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}MV=PQwhere:M=money supplyV=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)P=average price of a good or serviceQ=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
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ARTICLE SOURCES
Related Terms
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
more
What Is the K-Percent Rule?
The K-Percent Rule, proposed by economist Milton Friedman, states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year.
more
Quantity Theory of Money Definition
The quantity theory of money is a theory that variations in price relate to variations in the money supply.
more
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
more
Equation of Exchange Definition
The equation of exchange is a model that shows the relationship between money supply, price level, and other elements of the economy.
more
Who Is Robert E. Lucas Jr.?
Robert E. Lucas Jr. is a New Classical economist who won the 1995 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on rational expectations.
more
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Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}MV=PQwhere:M=money supplyV=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)P=average price of a good or serviceQ=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
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Related Terms
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
more
What Is the K-Percent Rule?
The K-Percent Rule, proposed by economist Milton Friedman, states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year.
more
Quantity Theory of Money Definition
The quantity theory of money is a theory that variations in price relate to variations in the money supply.
more
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
more
Equation of Exchange Definition
The equation of exchange is a model that shows the relationship between money supply, price level, and other elements of the economy.
more
Who Is Robert E. Lucas Jr.?
Robert E. Lucas Jr. is a New Classical economist who won the 1995 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on rational expectations.
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Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up
• Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
• Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
•
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
REFERENCES
Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
where:
M = {money supply}
V = {velocity (rate at which money changes hands)}
P = {average price of a good or service}
Q ={quantity of goods and services sold}
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
BACKGROUND ON MONETARISM
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
HOW IT WORKS
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
EXAMPLES OF MONETARISM
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism
Monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.¬
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.¬
In 1979, Paul A. Volcker became chairman of the Fed and made fighting inflation its primary objective. The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.¬
Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983.¬
But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.¬
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed.
Relevant still
Still, the monetarist interpretation of the Great Depression was not entirely forgotten. In a speech during a celebration of Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday in late 2002, then-Fed governor Ben S. Bernanke, who would become chairman four years later, said, “I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We [the Fed] did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” Fed Chairman Bernanke mentioned the work of Friedman and Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates and increase money supply to stimulate the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. Prominent monetarists (including Schwartz) argued that the Fed stimulus would lead to extremely high inflation. Instead, velocity dropped sharply and deflation is seen as a much more serious risk.¬
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.¬
REFERENCES
Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
THE MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Milton Friedman an American economist is generally regarded as monetarism leading exponent.Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverse significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970’s and early 80’s.
Monetarism, a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply, i.e, the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits, is the chief determinant on the demand side of short run economic activity.
A Monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply, including physical currency, deposits and credits is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy
HOW THE MONETARIST SYSTEM WORKS
As the availability of money in the economy increases aggregate demand for good and services goes up, an increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy an economic tool used in monetarism is implemented to adjust interest rates when interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply.
Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman argued based on the quantity theory of money, that government should keep the money supply steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply. He asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Milton Friedman proposed a fixed growth at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of GDP and be expressed as a fixed % per year. This way the monetarist system will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly. The economy will grow at steady rate and inflation will be kept at low levels.Monetarists believe changes to money supply are the driver of the equations:
MV=PQ
where; M= money supply
V= velocity(ready at which money changes hands)
P= average price of goods and services
Q= quantity of goods and services sold.
change in M directly affected and determine employment, inflation(P) and production(Q).Monetarism builds on Keynesian theory by assuming the same monetarist economy frame work and integrating the equation of exchange, but instead focuses on the role played by money supply because they believe that v can be easily predicted.they believed that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessary introduces micro economy distortions that reduce economic efficiency.
There are potential dangers in monetarism
Too much inflation and
Too low inflation
Too much inflation: was the reason why monetarism became important in the 1970’s in America. For instance; federal reserve making too much money available for the economy, prices will rise and inflation tends to distort the allocation of economic resources. In the process one can’t tend to know what price of good is going up and what price of good is going down. Because something is more or less valuable, what to do then is lower the rate of inflation and bring about more economic speedibility.
Too low inflation : the rate of price inflation will be too low or deflation sets in which will lead to low aggregate demand.
In a business cycle nominal wages are sticky; meaning that they cannot be readjusted or regenerated all the time. When the flow of purchasing power and flow of money declines it makes employers layoff some staffs which to business cycle downtime.
REMEDIES
constant rate of money supply growth
constrain the central banks through rules and regulations
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONETARISM
The theoretical foundation is the quantity theory of money
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often time destabilize things more than they help.Laissez faire is often the best advice
The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off
Fiscal policy is often bad policy.A small role for government is good.
REFERENCES
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, October 3). monetarism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
Milton Friedman, A monetary history of the United States 1867-1960
https://www.econweb.com.notes
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbDNjRlJrUzJrSklNNVh4d3J2QklyUnFLa0tQQXxBQ3Jtc0tubkxsY2pvNGo4Q0ZJWHY0X3ZpZEE3MmRKMVVjbng3VjlWT19hdmdkYzJNeTI4eXlvbXFHUF9UOGNxVkNCOVR6RmQzZEVKTkUzVzR5emdpUzVKUHpzcGFzUEZUc3kwWnFKZlpZSWNYS0hjczhtdF85OA&q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2jp4Tpz
its emphasis on money’s importance gained sway in the 1970s
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.¬
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.¬
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.¬
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists.
At its most basic
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.¬
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).¬
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.¬
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.¬
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
School of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
REFERENCES
Johnson, Harry G., 1971. “The Keynesian Revolutions and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution”, American Economic Review, 61(2), p. p. 1–14. Reprinted in John Cunningham Wood and Ronald N. Woods, ed., 1990, Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments, v. 2, p. p. 72 – 88. Routledge
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
REFERENCES
Johnson, Harry G., 1971. “The Keynesian Revolutions and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution”, American Economic Review, 61(2), p. p. 1–14. Reprinted in John Cunningham Wood and Ronald N. Woods, ed., 1990, Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments, v. 2, p. p. 72 – 88. Routledge
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
• Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
• Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
REFERENCES
Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
Bordo, Michael D. (1989). “The Contribution of A Monetury History”. Money, History, & International Finance: Essays in Honor of Anna J. Schwartz. The Increase in Reserve Requirements, 1936-37. University of Chicago Press. p. 46. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.736.9649. ISBN 0-226-06593-6. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
How monetarist policy works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth
Monetarist theories
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression
There are two approaches to analyze the Quantity Theory of Money. These are Fisher’s Theory and Cash Balance Approach. In this article, we will look at both these approaches to understand the Quantity Theory of Money in detail.
Quantity Theory of Money
Fisher’s theory explains the relationship between the money supply and price level. According to Fisher,
MV = PT
Where,
M – The total money supply
V – The velocity of circulation of money. This also means that the average number of times a unit of money exchanges hands during a specific period of time.
P is the price level or the average price of the Gross National Product (GNP) and
T is the Total National Output.
Through this equation, Fisher showed that the relationship between money supply and the price level is direct and proportional. Also,The rate of change in money supplydMM=The rate of change in the price leveldPP
Quantity Theory of Money
Fisher based his theory on three assumptions:
The relationship between M and P is proportional only when there are no changes in the values of V and T. In other words when V and T are constant.
‘V’ or the velocity of circulation of money depends on the spending habits of people. Since the spending habits of people are more or less stable, V is constant.
In a situation of full employment or when all available factors of production are fully employed, ‘T’ or the Gross National Product is constant. At less than full employment, more money will lead to more output and hence, ‘P’ stays constant.
The demand for money exists for transaction purposes only. Also, people spend their entire income immediately for transactions.
Learn more about the Functions of Money and its Demand in detail here.
Criticisms of Fisher’s Theory
The Fisher’s equation is an abstract and mathematical truism. Also, it does not explain the process through which, ‘M’ affects ‘P’.
The assumption the people use up the entire ‘M’ to immediately buy ‘T’, is unreal. In real life, no one spends all the money the moment he earns it. Fisher fails to explain the precautionary and speculative uses of money.
There is no full employment. Every country has a natural rate of employment.
Even if there is full employment, a country can bring in factors from abroad (the ones that are not available within the economy) and rise the national output.
Since the theory assumes that people use the money only for transactions, it is usually called the Cash Transaction Theory.
Quantity Theory of Money – Cash Balance Approach
The Cash Balance Approach states that it is not the total money, but that portion of the cash balance that people spend which influence the price levels. Most people hold a cash balance in their hands rather than spending the entire amount all at once. According to this approach,
M = PKT
Where,
M – The money supply
P – The price level
T – The total volume of transactions and
K is the demand for money that people want to hold as cash balance
Quantity Theory of Money – Keynes
Keynes reformulated the Quantity Theory of Money. According to him, money does not directly affect the price level. Also, a change in the quantity of money can lead to a change in the rate of interest.
Further, with a change in the rate of interest, the volume of investment can change. Also, this change in investment volume can lead to a change in income, output, and employment along with a change in the cost of production.
Finally, all these factors will lead to a change in the prices of goods and services. In simple words, the Keynesian version of the Quantity Theory integrates the monetary theory with the general theory of value.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Reference
Kimberly, A. (2021). Monetarism explainedu the balance. Retrieved Feb 13, 2022, from The Balance Website:https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Reference
Kimberly, A. (2021). Monetarism explainedu the balance. Retrieved Feb 13, 2022, from The Balance Website:https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
It is said that the money you make is a symbol of value you create. In that view, I wouldn’t blame the monetarists for their strong belief on money being major determinant for economic stability and growth.
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation (CFI, 2021).
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth (DANIEL, ERIC &OSIKHOTSALI, 2021).
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending).
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
History of Monetarism
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
Monetarism and it’s prospects
According to Bennett T. McCallum, monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes
(1) long-run monetary neutrality,
(2) short-run monetary nonneutrality,
(3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and
(4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis.
(1) long-run monetary neutrality
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.
(2) short-run monetary nonneutrality
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it (Bennett, N.D).
(3) The distinction between real and nominal interest rates
Real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
(4) The role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”
Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Personal view on monetarism/conclusion
Generally monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
On the other hand, I would say that neglecting other fiscal policy measures like taxes and it’s impact in times of inflation is biased because raising taxes is also a solution to high inflation.
The idea of monetarism is wonderful but I think when we combine it monetary policy to fiscal policy we will have the best results.
Reference
Daniel R. , Eric E. & Osikhotsali M. Monetarism. Investopedia. July 25, 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=Monetarism%20is%20a%20macroeconomic%20theory,primary%20determinant%20of%20economic%20growth.
Bennett T. Monetarism. Ecolib. N.D. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Monetarism.html
No name. Monetarist Theory. Corporate financial Institute(CFI). N.d. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
MONETARIST SYSTEM
Money has different forms and faces. From precious gold, silver and copper coins to paper claims on gold and finally fiat money guaranteed by a sovereign in the 19th century emerged first the Gold standard period since 1870, which featured a stable peg and exchange-rate of international currencies to gold, later on the dollar and pound were starting to take over that role, while stably being pegged to gold.
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
MONETARIST
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
Understanding Monetarism and the Monetarist System.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth ( by Investopedia ). It is also Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation ( by Wikipedia ).
Monetarist – are those who argue for the monetarism.
Monetarist as defined by oxford dictionary means an economist who is an advocate of monetarism.
Monetarist system therefore a group of individual who believed or advocate in the structuring the economy in a way that is monetary policy is used in controlling inflation and unemployment, and making the economy stable. By monetary policy, it means the change in the supply of money by the central bank of a country for expansionary or contractionary motives. ( by researcher – Stephen Anyamadu )
Monetarism is mainly associated Milton Friedman, Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book – A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, where they went accepted some monetary and fiscal policy theories by Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Rather they argued that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he ( Milton Friedman ) opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply (M) at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Monetarism and Quantity Theory of Money
Quantity theory of money is based upon an equation by American economist Irving Fisher.
The Fisher equation is calculated as:
M×V=P×T
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity of money
P=average price level
T=volume of transactions in the economy
Tenet of Monetarism
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange some of which are discussed below:
— An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
— Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
— The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism is associated with Milton Friedman.Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.6
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.Friedman’s monetarism is based on various analyzes of fundamental economic elements that include varying levels of aggregate demand, controversial theories of price inflation, and contrasting variants of money demand. However, no element proved as controversial as his analysis of the quantity theory of money, or the “equation of exchange.”
This equation, originating in the seventeenth century, puts forth a relationship between the quantity of money within an economy and the price level, and was often adhered to by classical economists. Milton Friedman, in expanding several theoretical elements of this equation in the mid-twentieth century, shaped the central elements of the monetarist school of economic thought.
The equation of exchange is delineated as: MV=PQ
Reference
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Info:Main_Page
https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetarism
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
HOW MONEY SUPPLY AFFECTS THE ECONOMY
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
where:
M = {money supply}
V = {velocity (rate at which money changes hands)}
P = {average price of a good or service}
Q ={quantity of goods and services sold}
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
REFERENCES
Phillip Cagan, 1987. “Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), Money: The New Palgrave, pp. 195–205, 492–97.
Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014
Chisalum Emmanuel Chinecherem
2019/249408
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflationInflationInflation is an economic concept that refers to increases in the price level of goods over a set period of time. The rise in the price level signifies that the currency in a given economy loses purchasing power (i.e., less can be bought with the same amount of money)..
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflationDeflationDeflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Put another way, deflation is negative inflation. When it occurs, and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Summary
* The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
* According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
* Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great DepressionThe Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds RateFederal Funds RateIn the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate that depository institutions (such as banks and credit unions) charge other depository institutions. – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
* M is the money supply
* V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
* P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
* Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
* An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
* Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDPGross Domestic Product (GDP)Gross domestic product (GDP) is a standard measure of a country’s economic health and an indicator of its standard of living. Also, GDP can be used to compare the productivity levels between different countries.) and employment levels.
* The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic TheoryKeynesian Economic TheoryKeynesian Economic Theory is an economic school of thought that broadly states that government intervention is needed to help economies emerge, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
ELIGWEDIRE VICTOR OZIOMA
2019/249216
ECO 204
ASSIGNMENT
What is Monetarism?
Monetarism is seen as a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability. The premise of monetarism lies in the idea that the total amount of money in circulation in an economy determines the rate of economic growth of that economy. In the long term, however, demand outstrips supply, which causes disequilibrium in the price markets and hence leads to inflation. The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). On this basis,
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
American economist Milton Friedman is considered to be the pioneer of the school of economics called monetarism, which gained prominence around 1970s. Other proponents of the theory include Alan Walters, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, David Laidler, Karl Brunner, and Michael Parkin. They used the Quantity Theory of Money to conclude that the manner in which a government can allow the natural growth of an economy is by keeping the money supply fairly steady. Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Some key points highlighted by the theory are:
~ An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
~ Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
~The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
THE MONETARIST VIEW that changes in the
money stock area primary determinant of changes
in total spending, and should thereby be given
major emphasis in economic stabilization programs,
has been of growing interest in recent years. From
the mid-1930’s to the mid-1960’s. monetary policy received little emphasis in economic stabilization policy.
Presumed failure of monetary policy during the
early years of the Great Depression, along with the
development and general acceptance of Keynesian
economics, resulted in a main emphasis on fiscal actions — Federal Government spending and taxing
programs
—
in economic stabilization plans. Monetary
policy, insofar as it received any attention, was generally expressed in terms of market rates of interest.
Growing recognition of the importance of money
and other monetary aggregates in the determination
of spending, output, and prices has been fostered by
the apparent failure of stabilization policy to curb
the inflation of the last half of the l
960’s. Sharply
rising market interest rates w’ere interpreted to indicate significant monetary restraint, while the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 was considered a major move toward fiscal restraint.
Despite these policy developments, total spending
continued to rise rapidly until late 1969, and the rate
of inflation accelerated. Those holding to the monetarist view were not surprised by this lack of success Offering helpful suggestions throughout the study were
Denis Karnosky of this bank, William P. Yohe of Duke University and visiting Scholar at this bank, 1969-70,
David Fand of Wayne State University. Susan Smith provided programming assistance and Christopher Babb and
H. Albert Margolis advised on statistical problems. The
authors thank the following for their comments on earlier
drafts, without implying their endorsement of either the
methods of analysis or the conclusions F. Gerard Adams,
Philip Cagan, E. Gerald Corrigan, Richard Davis, Ray Fair,
Edgar Fiedler, Milton Friedman and members of the Money
and Banking Workshop at the University of Chicago, Edward
Gramlieh, Harry C. Johnson, John Kalchbrenner, Edward
Kane, Michael Keran, Allan Meltzer, Franco Modigliani,
George Morrison, David Ott, Joel Popkin, Thomas Saving,
Roger Spencer, Henry Wallich, Clark Warburton, Manfred
Willms, and Arnold Zellner.
in curbing excessive growth in total spending, largely
because the money stock grew at a historically rapid
rate during the four years ending in late 1968. Economic developments from 1965 through 1969 were in
general agreement with the expectations of the
monetarist view.
This article develops a model designed to analyze
economic stabilization issues within a framework
which focuses on the influence of monetary expansion on total spending. Most of the major econometric
models have not assigned an important role to the
money stock or to any other monetary aggregate.1
Furthennore, most econometric models contain a large
number of behavioral hypotheses to be empirically
estimated and integrated with each other, because
they are designed to aid in understanding the determination of many economic magnitudes. By comparison, the model presented in this article is quite small.
It is designed to provide information on the most
likely course of movement of certain strategic economic variables in response to monetary and fiscal
actions.
Frank de Leeuw and Edward M. Cramlieh, “The Federal
Reserve-MI’I’ Econometric Model,” Federal Reserve Bulletin (January 1968), pp. 11-40, and “The Channels of
Monetary Policy: A Further Report on the Federal Reserve
MIT Econometric Model,” Federal Re~~~erveBulletin (June
1969), pp. 472-91; James S. Duesenberry, Gary Fromm,
Lawrence R. Klein, and Edwin Kuh (ed), The Brookings
Quarterly Econometric Mode? of the United States (Chicago:
Rand McNally, 1965), and The Brookings Model: Some
Further Results (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969); Michael
K. Evans and Lawrence R. Klein, The Wharton Econometric
Forecasting Model, 2nd Enlarged Edition (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania, 1968); Maurice Liebenberg,
Albert A. Hirsch, and Joel Popkin, “A Quarterly Econometric Model of the United States: A Progress Report,”
Survey of Cur,’ent Business (May 1966), pp. 423-56; Daniel
M. Suits,
“The Economic Outlook for 1969,” in The
Economic Outlook for 1969, Papers presented to the Sixteenth Annual Conference on the Economic Outlook at The
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan,
1969), pp. 1-26. For a discussion of the role of money in
these models, see David I. Fand, “The Monetary Theory of
Nine Recent Quarterly Econometric Models of the United
States,” forthcoming in the Journal of Money, Credit, and
B
NAME: MACHEBE CHIOMA STEPHANIE
REG NO: 2019/248922
DEPT: ECONOMICS EDUCATION
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC
SYSTEM
Monetarism or monetarist macro economic system as it implies is a macro economic theory which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially,it is a set of views based on the belief that the amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore,let’s understand that monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is a primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words,the monetary macro economic system or monetarism is:
•Monetarism is closely associated with economist MILTON FRIEDMAN who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
•Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand contrary to most Keynesian.
•According to the theory,monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
•Monetarism is the primary alternative macro economic theory to Keynesian economic theory, monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money”which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange formulated by JOHN STUART MILL which states that the money supply multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year equals the nominal expenditure in the economy. The formula is given as:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money ( the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency E.g one dollar is spent in one year.
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy ( the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced ie economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory,V(the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore,it changes
M(the money supply)that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarist believe that changes to M(money supply)are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P) and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money,V is held to be constant but this assumption was dropped by JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES & is not assumed by the monetarists who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable) then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease)in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variation in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in short term.
NAME: UDEH GODWIN ONYEKA
REG. NO: 2016/237158
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY)
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics system.
ANSWER
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year.
He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
REFERENCES
T.J. Sargent and N. Wallace (1976) “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Economic Policy”, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 2, p.169-83.
A.J. Schwartz (1981) “Understanding 1929-33”, in K.Brunner, editor, The Great Depression Revisited. Boston: Martinus-Nijhoff.
H.C. Simons (1934) “Positive Program for Laissez Faire: Some proposals for a liberal economic policy”, Public Policy Pamplet. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Reprinted in Simons, 1948.
H.C. Simons (1936) “Rule versus Authorities in Monetary Policy”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 44 (1), p.1-30. Reprinted in Simons, 1948.
H.C. Simons (1948) Economic Policy for a Free Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
C.A. Sims (1972) “Money, Income and Causality”, American Economic Review, Vol. 62 (4), p.540-52.
C.A. Sims (1980) “Comparison of Interwar and Postwar Business Cycles: Monetarism reconsidered”, American Economic review, Vol. 90 (2), p.250-7.
R.M. Solow (1968) “Recent Controversy on the Theory of Inflation”, in S. Rousseas, editor, Preoceedings of a Symposium on Inflation. Wilton, Conn: Kazanjian Economics Foundation.
R.M. Solow (1978) “Summary and Evalution”, in After the Phillips Curve: Persistence of high inflation and high unemployment. Boston: Federal Reserve.
P. Temin (1976) Did Monetary Forces Cause the Great Depression?. New York: Norton.
J. Tobin (1963) “Commercial Banks as Creators of Money”, in D. Carson, editor, Banking and Monetary Studies. Homewood, Ill.: Irwin.
J. Tobin (1965) “The Monetary Interpretation of History”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55 (3), p.645-84.
J. Tobin (1970) “Money and Income: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc?”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 84 (2), p.301-17.
J. Tobin (1970) “Rejoinder to Friedman”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 84, p.327-
J. Tobin (1972) “Friedman’s Theoretical Framework”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 78 (6), p.853-63. Reprinted in Gordon, 1974.
J. Tobin. (1972) “Inflation and Unemployment”, American Economic Review, Vol. 62, p.1-18.
J. Tobin (1980) Asset Accumulation and Economic Activity: Reflections on contemporary macroeconomic activity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
J. Tobin (1981) “The Monetarist Counter-Revolution Today: An appraisal”, Economic Journal, Vol. 91 (1) p.29-42.
J. Tobin (1982) “Money and Finance in the Macroeconomic Process”, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 14 (2), p.171-204.
S.J. Turnovsky (1972) “The Expectations Hypothesis and the Aggregate Wage Equation: Some empirical evidence for Canada”, Economica, Vol. 39, p.1-17.
S.J. Turnovsky and M.L. Wachter (1972) “A Test of the Expectations Hypothesis Using Directly Observed Wage and Price Expectations”, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 54, p.47-54.
M.L. Wachter (1976) “The Changing Cyclical Responsiveness of Wage Inflation”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, p.115-59.
C. Warburton (1946) “The Misplaced Emphasis in Contemporary Business-Fluctuation Theory”, Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, Vol. 19 (4), p.199-220. Reprinted in Warburton, 1966.
C. Warburton (1950) “The Monetary Disequilibrium Hypothesis”, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 10 (1), p.1-11. Reprinted in Warburton, 1966.
C. Warburton (1952) “How Much Variation in the Quantity of Money is Needed?”, Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 18 (4), p.495-509. Reprinted in Warburton, 1966.
C. Warburton (1966) Depression, Inflation and Monetary Policy: Selected papers, 1945-1953. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
NAME: OKECHUKWU TIMOTHY CHUKWUEZUGOLUM
REG. NO: 2019/244962
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY)
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics system.
ANSWER
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Inflation is an economic concept that refers to increases in the price level of goods over a set period of time. The rise in the price level signifies that the currency in a given economy loses purchasing power (i.e., less can be bought with the same amount of money)..
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation. Deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Put another way, deflation is negative inflation. When it occurs, and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Summary
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds RateFederal Funds RateIn the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate that depository institutions (such as banks and credit unions) charge other depository institutions. – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDPGross Domestic Product (GDP)Gross domestic product (GDP) is a standard measure of a country’s economic health and an indicator of its standard of living. Also, GDP can be used to compare the productivity levels between different countries.) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
REFERENCES
R.E. Lucas and T.J. Sargent (1979) “After Keynesian Macroeconomics”, in After the Phillips Curve: Persistence of high inflation and high unemployment. Boston: Federal Reserve.
A.H. Meltzer (1963) “The Demand for Money: The evidence from time series”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 71, p.219-46.
L.W. Mints (1945) A History of Banking Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
L.W. Mints (1950) Monetary Policy for a Competitive Society. New York: McGraw-Hill.
F. Modigliani (1977) “The Monetarist Controversy: or should we forsake stabilization policies?”, American Economic Review, Vol. 67, p.1-19.
D.T. Mortenson (1970) “A Theory of Wage and Employment Dynamics” in Phelps, 1970.
D.T. Mortenson (1970) “Job Search, the Duration of Unemployment, and the Phillips Curve” in Phelps,1970.
J. Muth (1961) “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements”, Econometrica, Vol. 29 (3), p.315-25.
A.M. Okun (1962) “Potential GNP: Its measurement and significance”, in Proceedins of the Business and Economics Statistics Section, American Statistical Association. Washington, DC: American Statistical Association.
A.M. Okun (1978) “Efficient Disinflationary Policies”, American Economic Review, Vol. 68 (2), p.348-52.
A.M. Okun (1981) Prices and Quantities: A macroeconomicanalysis.Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
T.I. Palley (1992) “Milton Friedman and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution: A re-appraisal”, New School Working Paper, No. 38.
D. Patinkin (1956) Money, Interest and Prices: An integration of monetary and value theory. 1965 edition, New York: Harper and Rowe
Okafor chukwubuikem Emmanuel
2019/245070
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
* Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
* Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
* Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
* Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
* Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
M
V
=
P
Q
where:
M
=
money supply
V
=
velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P
=
average price of a good or service
Q
=
quantity of goods and services sold
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
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Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
NAME: OKECHUKWU CHISOM PETER
REG. NO: 2019/244670
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY)
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics system.
ANSWER
The first is that the term ‘monetarist’ (like the term ‘Keynesian’) not only has no very precise meaning but has become part of the small change of political dispute. Indeed the two terms have become elements in a continuing but not notably constructive polemic so that both now carry political overtones which are liable to distort or obscure their meaning. Polemics have no place in a textbook. We must, as a result, try to offer a definition of ‘monetarism’ which is clear and, by virture of its clarity, free from polemical taints. Once this has been done (if indeed it can be done) we can cease to use the words ‘monetarism’ and ‘monetarist’ in anything but a precise way and concentrate on those propositions which, in our view, serve to define it.
Unfortunately, setting out these propositions is far from straightforward since economists who are usually identified as ‘monetarist’ and who are happy enough to accept the identification do not have identical views. In what follows we have therefore sought to identify ‘monetarism’ with a minimum number of propositions which we believe ‘monetarists’ would typically accept. These propositions we define as ‘monetarist macroeconomic theory’ even though some ‘monetarists’ accept additional propositions which are equally at variance with our earlier analysis and equally important in their implications for policy.
As we have seen, a macroeconomic theory must contain both a theory of aggregate demand and a theory of aggregate supply. Accordingly we begin with the ‘monetarist’ analysis of the former.
Monetarism and aggregate demand.
The three main economic propositions underlying the ‘monetarist” theory of aggregate demand are:
1. The nominal money stock (M5 ) – however narrowly or broadly defined – is a variable subject to control by the monetary authorities. This is the central bank, itself subject to control by the government.
2. The demand for money (in real terms) is a stable function of a small number of variables and is homogeneous of degree zero in prices (i.e. is unaffected by the price level).
3. Causation runs primarily from the nominal money stock (M5 ) – as this is set by the central bank – to money expenditures. The first of these propositions we have already met in Chapter 16, at least by implication, since there we treated the nominal money supply as an exogenous variable. We are now marginally expanding the meaning of this assumption by asserting that the nominal money stock (not the real money stock) can be set by the central bank. Precisely why this is theoretically plausible will emerge when, later, we turn to discuss the theory of the supply of money. For the present, the reader is asked to take its plausibility on trust.
Aggregate demand in nominal terms is now explained in ‘monetarist’ theory by arguing that it will be determined by: (a) the nominal money stock (M5 ), which is set by the central bank (b) the actions of transactors which equate MD to M5 by adjusting the value of nominal aggregate demand.
REFERENCES
R.J. Gordon (1972) “Wage-Price Controls and the Shifting Phillips Curve”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3, p.385-421.
R.J. Gordon (1974), editor, Milton Friedman’s Moneatry Framework: A debate with his critics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
R.J. Gordon (1975) “The Impact of Aggregate Demand on Prices”, Brookings Papers on Economics Activity, 3, p.613-62.
J.M. Grandmont and Y. Younè³ (1973) “On the Efficiency of a Monetary Equilibrium”, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 40 (2), p.149-65.
C.W.J. Granger (1969) “Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods”, Econometrica, Vol. 37, p.424-38.
J.G. Gurley and E.S. Shaw (1960) Money in a Theory of Finance. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
F.H. Hahn (1971) “Professor Friedman’s Views on Money”, Economica, Vol. 38, p.61-80.
F.H. Hahn (1980) “Monetarism and Economic Theory”, Economica, Vol. 47, p.1-17.
F.H. Hahn (1984) “Why I am not a Monetarist” in Equilibrium and Macroeconomics. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press.
A.G. Hart (1935) “The Chicago Plan of Banking Reform”, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 2, p.104-16.
F.A. Hayek (1943) “A Commodity Reserve Currency”, Economic Journal, Vol. ??, p.176-84.
F.A. Hayek (1978) Denationalization of Money: The argument refined. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.
F.A. Hayek (1979) “Toward a Free-Market Monetary System”, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 3 (1), p.1-8.
D. Hendry and N. Ericsson (1991) “An Econometric Analysis of UK Money Demand in Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom”, American Economic Review, Vol. 81, p.8-38.
J. Hicks. (1935) “A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money”, Economica, Vol. 2 (1), p.1-19.
J. Hicks (1937) “Mr Keynes and the Classics: A suggested interpretation”, Econometrica, Vol. 5, p.147-59.
A. Hirsch and N. de Marchi (1986) “Making a Case when Theory is Unfalsifiable: Friedman’s Monetary History”, Economics and Philosophy, Vol. 2, p.1-21.
J. Johannes and R. Rasche (1987) Controlling Growth of Monetary Aggregates. The Hague: Kluwer-Nijhoff.
H.G. Johnson (1971) “The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution”, American Economic Review, Vol. 2, p.1-14.
J.P. Judd and J.L. Scadding (1982) “The Search for a Stable Money Demand Function: A survey of the post-1973 literature”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 20, p.993-1023.
N. Kaldor (1960) “The Radcliffe Report”, Review of Economics and Statistics, ???
N. Kaldor (1970) “The New Monetarism”, Lloyds Bank Review, July, p.1-18.
N. Kaldor (1980) Origins of the New Monetarism. Cardiff: University of Cardiff Press.
N. Kaldor (1982) The Scourge of Monetarism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
J.H. Kareken and R.M. Solow (1963) “Lags in Monetary Policy”, in Commission on Money and Credit, Stabilization Policy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
H.G. Johnson (1971) “The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution”, American Economic Review, Vol. 2, p.1-14.
D. Laidler (1966) “The Rate of Interest and the Demand for Money: Some empirical evidence”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 74, p.545-55.
D. Laidler (1973) “The Influence of Money on Real Income and Inflation: A simple model with some empirical tests for the United States, 1953-72”, Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, Vol. 41, p.367-95.
D. Laidler (1977) The Demand for Money: Theories, evidence and problems. 1985 edition, New York: Harper and Row.
D. Laidler (1982) Monetarist Perspectives. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
NAME: OKECHUKWU TIMOTHY CHUKWUEZUGOLUM
REG. NO: 2019/244962
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY)
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics system.
ANSWER
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Inflation is an economic concept that refers to increases in the price level of goods over a set period of time. The rise in the price level signifies that the currency in a given economy loses purchasing power (i.e., less can be bought with the same amount of money)..
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation. Deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Put another way, deflation is negative inflation. When it occurs, and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Summary
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds RateFederal Funds RateIn the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate that depository institutions (such as banks and credit unions) charge other depository institutions. – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDPGross Domestic Product (GDP)Gross domestic product (GDP) is a standard measure of a country’s economic health and an indicator of its standard of living. Also, GDP can be used to compare the productivity levels between different countries.) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
REFERENCES
R.E. Lucas and T.J. Sargent (1979) “After Keynesian Macroeconomics”, in After the Phillips Curve: Persistence of high inflation and high unemployment. Boston: Federal Reserve.
A.H. Meltzer (1963) “The Demand for Money: The evidence from time series”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 71, p.219-46.
L.W. Mints (1945) A History of Banking Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
L.W. Mints (1950) Monetary Policy for a Competitive Society. New York: McGraw-Hill.
F. Modigliani (1977) “The Monetarist Controversy: or should we forsake stabilization policies?”, American Economic Review, Vol. 67, p.1-19.
D.T. Mortenson (1970) “A Theory of Wage and Employment Dynamics” in Phelps, 1970.
D.T. Mortenson (1970) “Job Search, the Duration of Unemployment, and the Phillips Curve” in Phelps,1970.
J. Muth (1961) “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements”, Econometrica, Vol. 29 (3), p.315-25.
A.M. Okun (1962) “Potential GNP: Its measurement and significance”, in Proceedins of the Business and Economics Statistics Section, American Statistical Association. Washington, DC: American Statistical Association.
A.M. Okun (1978) “Efficient Disinflationary Policies”, American Economic Review, Vol. 68 (2), p.348-52.
A.M. Okun (1981) Prices and Quantities: A macroeconomicanalysis.Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
T.I. Palley (1992) “Milton Friedman and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution: A re-appraisal”, New School Working Paper, No. 38.
D. Patinkin (1956) Money, Interest and Prices: An integration of monetary and value theory. 1965 edition, New York: Harper and Rowe
Monetarism And The Monetarist System
Monetarism: Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced. The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced.
A change in money supply affects full employment, price levels etc. Monetarism is associated with Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz, with Friedman tagged the father of monetarism. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Reference: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
Monetarist is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economicconcept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
1: The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
2: Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
3: The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
FRIED’S FREE MARKET THINKING
a: Friedman argued for free trade
b: small government
c: And a slow steady increase of the money supply in a growing economy.
Monetarist say that central bank are more powerful than the government because:
1: They control the money supply
2: They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than normal rates. Most published rates are norminal rates, while real rates remove the effect of inflation.
3: Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Reference: Kimberly Amadeo,Thomas J.catalano, Millton Friedman, Bennett mcCullum
NAME: GUTON DAMILOLA MAUTON
REG. NO: 2019/245651
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY)
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics system.
ANSWER
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
In the 1970s governments guided by the then-dominant school of economic thought, Keynesian economics (based on the writings of British economist John Maynard Keynes), were battling high inflation (the rising of prices across the economy that causes money to lose value) and conditions of economic stagnation. Monetarists, led by American economist Milton Friedman, maintained that the Keynesian approach was flawed and that inflation could be brought under control by restraining the growth of the money supply. Under the influence of monetarist theory, the United States’ central bank, the Federal Reserve System (commonly called the Fed), was successful at reining in inflation, and in the 1980s economists and government leaders accordingly embraced the school of thought in large numbers. But subsequent changes in the economy seemed to disprove an exclusive focus on the money supply, and the doctrine’s influence waned. Although monetarism remained influential into the twenty-first century, it was in a modified form that took other variables besides the money supply into consideration.
When Did It Begin
Monetarist theory arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the mainstream school of economics in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s, which was based on the ideas of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had provided a blueprint for recovery from the Great Depression (the severe crisis affecting the world economy in the 1930s), suggesting that governments could stimulate their ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money, even if they had to go into debt. The money they spent (on public projects and on aid to the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly, for instance) would put money in people’s pockets so that they would be able to buy the products they needed and wanted. This increased consumer demand would give companies an incentive to expand their operations and hire new workers, which would increase demand still further. The United States and other countries did, in fact, pursue such policies, and their recovery from the Depression seemed to validate Keynes’s theories. Keynesian economics continued to dominate in academia and government in the following decades, as governments generally attempted to promote economic stability through tax and spending policies.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation (the general rising of prices, which causes money to lose value) and unemployment (the percentage of people who want to work but cannot find jobs) could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory.
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation, represents the money supply, and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as a dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy, and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
REFERENCES
L.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.
L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
J.W. Angell (1933) “Monetary Control and General Business Stabilization”, in Economic Essays in Honor of Gustav Cassel. London: Allen and Unwin.
J.W. Angell (1936) The Behavior of Money. New York: McGraw-Hill.
G.C. Archibald (1969) “The Philips Curve and the Distribution of Unemployment”, American Economic Review, Vol. 59 (2), p.124-9.
M.J. Bailey (1956) “The Welfare Cost of Inflationary Finance”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 64, p.93-110.
T.F. Bewley (1980) “The Optimum Quantity of Money”, in J.H. Kareken and N. Wallace, Models of Monetary Economies, Minneapolis: Federal Reserve of Minneapolis.
T.F. Bewley (1983) “A Difficulty with the Optimum Quantity of Money”, Econometrica, Vol. 51, p.1485-1504.
K. Brunner (1968) “The Role of Money and Monetary Policy”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 50, p.8-24.
K. Brunner (1970) “The Monetarist Revolution in Monetary Theory”, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Vol. 105 (1), p.1-30.
K. Brunner (1981) “Controlling Monetary Aggregates”, in Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Controlling Monetary Aggregates III, p.1-65.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1963) “Predicting Velocity: Implications for theory and policy”, Journal of Finance, Vol. 18, p.319-54.
NAME:Ugah Chikaodili Udodili
Reg number: 2019/243002
Economics
The term Monetary arrangement alludes to what the central bank, the country’s national bank, does to impact how much cash and credit in the Nigerian economy. Cash and credit influences loan fee and the exhibition of the economy (cost of credit).
Economies has shown the connection between cash supply and monetary development. The cash supply straightforwardly impacts monetary development and achieves security. This implies a sensible expansion in cash supply will prompt monetary development.
The macroeconomic money related approach is a standard instrument, that the public authority uses to control total interest of labor and products. Per say, an increment in total interest for labor and products will prompt expansion in business and decreases in compulsory joblessness which will result to higher usefulness in the economy.
The national administration of Nigeria applies the financial arrangement in this way, through the approach to correcting of loan cost, for instance the central government can choose to increment or decline loan fee through the assistance of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This will impact this will impact individual negligible affinity to consume and the impact of the multiplier.
The multiplier is a powerful power which extensively alludes to a monetary element that, when expanded or changed, causes increments or changes in numerous other related financial factors. The term multiplier is generally utilized concerning the connection between government spending and all out public pay.
In a circumstance when national government chooses to build loan cost, this will have an immediate impact in the degree of saving and the interest of cash within reach. This implies an expansion rate will energize setting aside and deter cash nearby the other way around.
Monetarism is profoundly connected with a financial expert called Milton Friedman who propounded the hypothesis, of amount hypothesis of cash. He recommended that the public authority ought to apply this hypothesis by keeping the inventory of cash genuinely consistent, expanding it marginally to empower regular financial development.
Expansion is brought about by unreasonable stock of cash on the grounds that large chunk of change will pursue less merchandise. Friedman proposed a proper development rate called the k percent rule. This standard gave the rule that cash supply ought to develop at a yearly rate connected with an ostensible GDP that express at a decent rate each year. The k percent rule will be sufficient in aiding breaking down and arranging of the economy for both the private and public area.
Straightforwardly to monetarism is the amount hypothesis of cash which embraced and drafted into the overall Keynesian system of macroeconomics. This hypothesis can be communicated in condition which is cash provided x speed of cash which is likewise the pace of cash change hand is equivalent to the normal costs of labor and products x result which is amount of labor and products. The condition was formed by John Stewart given as:
MV=PQ
M = supply of cash
V= speed
P= normal cost of labor and products
Q= public income absolute amount of merchandise size administrations provided
The condition is connected because of the adjustment of supply of cash either increment or diminishing with lead to an adjustment of the normal of cost of labor and products or public pay.
All together financial strategy can’t be overemphasized yet stays significant and the vital to the public authority utilizes in settling the economy and achieves monetary development.
Name: Machebe Chioma Stephanie
Reg No: 2019/248922
Dept: Economics education
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Monetarism or Monetarist Macroeconomic system as it implies is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore lets understand that Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words the Monetary Macroeconomic system or Monetarism is
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
• According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
• Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced– i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes
M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST THEORY VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy o the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession. Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy. Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
We are further going to discuss briefly on the history of the monetarist Macroeconomic system or theory. While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at thenvery moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM – KEY VITAL POINTS.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
• An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
• Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment level.
• The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.
•Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
CONCLUSION
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central-bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,”however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely spoused and practiced today. There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them. These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
REFERENCES
CFI Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
*D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
• Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic
• Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed.
Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton
• Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
OKOYE STELLA OGOCHUKWU
2019/250026
ECONOMICS(MAJOR)
MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
THE MONETARIST VIEW
changes in the money stock area primary determinant of changes in total spending, and should thereby be given major emphasis in economic stabilization programs, has been of growing interest in recent years. From the mid-1930’s to the mid-1960’s. monetary policy received little emphasis in economic stabilization policy. Presumed failure of monetary policy during the early years of the Great Depression, along with the development and general acceptance of Keynesian economics, resulted in a main emphasis on fiscal actions — Federal Government spending and taxing programs — in economic stabilization plans. Monetary policy, insofar as it received any attention, was generally expressed in terms of market rates of interest. Growing recognition of the importance of money and other monetary aggregates in the determination of spending, output, and prices has been fostered by the apparent failure of stabilization policy to curb the inflation of the last half of the l 960’s. Sharply rising market interest rates w’ere interpreted to indicate significant monetary restraint, while the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 was considered a major move toward fiscal restraint. Despite these policy developments, total spending continued to rise rapidly until late 1969, and the rate of inflation accelerated. Those holding to the monetarist view were not surprised by this lack of success.
TENETS OF MACRO ECONOMY
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy. At its most basic The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates. Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
Monetarist (believers of the monetarism theory warn that increasing the money supply only provide a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more experience this slows economic growth.
Their tenets are:
. A federal jobs guarantee program is possible: the core tenet that the government can create more money. The monetarist theorists support the idea of a federal job guarantee as a way to stabilize the economy and put money toward human capital.
. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
Registration number: 2019/242315
Faculty: Education
Department: Library and information science.
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetarist macro economic system is also called the monetarist theory, or monetarism. This is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy. It is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
They believe that when interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply but as the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
The theory of monetarism was popularized by Milton Friedman in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.He argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistics.The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression then, as the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
NAME: MACHEBE CHIOMA STEPHANIE
REG NO:2019/248922
DEPT: SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION (ECONOMIC EDUCATION)
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC
SYSTEM
Monetarism or Monetarist Macroeconomic system as it implies is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY MACRO
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore lets understand that Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words the Monetary Macroeconomic system or Monetarism is
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
• According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
• Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced– i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes
M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST THEORY VS KEYNESIAN
ECONOMICS
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy o the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession. Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy. Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
We are further going to discuss briefly on the history of the monetarist Macroeconomic system or theory. While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM – KEY VITAL POINTS.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
• An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
• Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment level.
• The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.
•Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
CONCLUSION
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central-bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,”however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely espoused and practiced today. There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them. These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
REFERENCES
CFI Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
*D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
• Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic
• Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed.
Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton
• Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
DEPARTMENT: LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy is the control of the quantity of money available in an economy and the channels by which new money is supplied.By managing the money supply, a central bank aims to influence macroeconomic factors including inflation, the rate of consumption, economic growth, and overall liquidity.
In addition to modifying the interest rate, a central bank may buy or sell government bonds, regulate foreign exchange (forex) rates, and revise the amount of cash that the banks are required to maintain as reserves.
Economists, analysts, and investors eagerly await monetary policy decisions and even the minutes of meetings in which they are discussed. This is news that has a long-lasting impact on the overall economy as well as on specific industry sectors and markets.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
NAME: MACHEBE CHIOMA STEPHANIE
REG NO:2019/248922
DEPT: SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION (ECONOMIC EDUCATION)
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC
SYSTEM
Monetarism or Monetarist Macroeconomic system as it implies is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY
MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore lets understand that Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words the Monetary Macroeconomic system or Monetarism is
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
• According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
• Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced– i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes
M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST THEORY VS KEYNESIAN
ECONOMICS
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy o the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession. Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy. Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
We are further going to discuss briefly on the history of the monetarist Macroeconomic system or theory. While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM – KEY VITAL POINTS.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
• An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
• Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment level.
• The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.
•Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
CONCLUSION
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,”however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely espoused and practiced today. There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them. These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
REFERENCES
CFI Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
*D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
• Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic
• Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed.
Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton
• Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
Name: Oguzie Echezonachukwu Sixtus
Registration Number: 2019/249165
Department: Economics
Date: 13-02-22
“The Monetarist System” and their Tenets:
Monetarism is an economic view that attributes economic fluctuations to changes in the money supply. Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The theory is not nearly as confusing as it may first appear. The theory basically says that prices for goods and services, as well as the rate at which prices rise (called inflation), are based upon how much money is in the economy and how fast that supply of money is increasing. If the supply of money increases quickly enough, prices will increase as the supply of money outpaces the supply of goods and services provided in the economy. Why?
When people have excess money, they have two options: save or spend. If people decide to buy more stuff, they are competing with other people that are also trying to buy more stuff. Remember that the injection of more money in the economy does not mean that the quantity of goods and services has increased. Consequently, as consumers compete for the limited amount of goods and services available in an economy, the price of goods increases, leading to inflation.
The same thing will happen if you decide to save instead of buy. If you save your money, you’ll usually, like most people, park the money in a bank. The banks make money by loaning money. Since they have more money to lend out, they will do it. The people who borrow money go out and compete with other buyers, which of course increases the price of goods and services because the quantity of goods and services in the economy has not changed just because the money supply has increased.
When do rising prices stabilize? As prices increase, you need more money to purchase goods and services. Eventually, the money demanded by consumers to purchase stuff will equal the quantity of money supplied. This is called the equilibrium price, and it is where supply equals demand. In order to avoid inflation, monetarists argue that the rate of growth in the money supply must not exceed the growth rate of the economy in the long run.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: Long-run neutrality of money is defined here to imply a long-run independence of real variables from the money supply. It is a consensus view that money is unlikely to be neutral in the short run because the sources of non neutrality (e.g. sticky prices) are more effective in the short run.
2. Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on the National Output and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to align.
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to
increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name: Ogili Edmond Onyedikachi
Registration Number: 2019/244358
Department: Economics/Philosophy
Monetarist System and their Tenets:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists also believe that, as their name suggests, the money supply is what regulates the economy. They see that managing money inventory directly impacts swelling and that by limiting money inventory, they may reduce future financing expenses. Monetarists believe that because the velocity of money is steady, raising the money supply will raise prices and real GDP in the near run.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Nduul Michael Terungwa
2019/246514
Averiorbo@gmail.com
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible too.
In the rise of monetarism as an ideology, two specific economists were critical contributors. Clark Warburton, in 1945, has been identified as the first thinker to draft an empirically sound argument in favour of monetarism. This was taken more mainstream by Milton Friedman in 1956 in a restatement of the quantity theory of money. The basic premise these two economists were putting forward is that the supply of money and the role of central banking play a critical role in macroeconomics.
The theory/ideology was popularized by Milton Friedman, in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. Where he said that the solution to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Theoretically, subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. When the money supply is expanded, individuals will be induced to higher spending, and inevitably leading to higher prices and inflation. In turn, when the money supply reduces, individuals would limit their budgetary spending accordingly, and leading to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Monetarism began to deviate more from Keynesian economics however in the 70’s and 80’s, as active implementation and historical reflection began to generate more evidence for the monetarist view. In 1979 for example, Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chief of the Federal Reserve, who in turn utilized the monetarist perspective to control inflation. He eventually created a price stability, providing evidence that the theory was sound. In addition, Milton Friedman and Ann Schwartz analyzed the Great Depression in the context of monetarism as well, identifying a shortage of the money supply as a critical component of the recession.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in the 1967 speech at the American Economic Association as stated above. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates. For example, in Nigeria, the CBN can change the CBN Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The CBN funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy. When the CBN funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M × V = P × Q
Where:
M is the money supply, V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year), P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services), Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production.
To explain this formula, let’s assume that the economy’s output comes from one producer. Let’s say a manufacturer produces 100 units and sells them at ₦200. So, in other words, the nominal GDP is ₦10,000 (100units x ₦200).Say, the central bank supplies ₦500 in the economy. Thus, the money supply will change hands 20 times (₦10,000 / ₦500) to purchase the same item.
Furthermore, the central bank increased the money supply to ₦1,000. Assume that the velocity of money is fixed (20 times) and that real output is stagnant (100 units). Thus, it will push up the price from ₦200 to ₦2,000 (20x ₦1,000 / 100).
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Both are mainstream policies in today’s modern economy.
Under the monetary policy, the central bank or monetary authority takes a role. They influence the economy through instruments such as policy interest rates, open market operations, and reserve requirements. Under the fiscal policy, the government influences the economy through its budget. They can change expenditures or taxes to influence economic activity.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
References
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/keynesianeconomics.asp
Assignment on ECO 204
MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM THEORY
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
What is Monetary Policy?
The most important economic tool under the regime of monetarist economics is monetary policy. It is controlled by the central banks of a sovereign country. The central bank is the entity responsible for money creation in an economy.
Also, it increases the money supply in an economy by purchasing government bonds, and vice versa. It also exercises direct control over interest rates in the economy, which enables it to control credit flow and liquidity.
1. Expansionary Monetary Policy
Expansionary monetary policy is one wherein the central bank lowers interest rates to promote credit availability in an economy. It means that the cost of borrowing decreases, which enables people to borrow more and consequently spend more. Thus, increasing the money supply can stimulate the economy.
2. Contractionary Monetary Policy
Under the contractionary monetary policy regime, the central bank maintains high levels of interest rates in an economy and purchases little to no amounts of government debt. Thus, it drives up the cost of credit, which disincentivizes borrowing and, consequently, spending.
Thus, a contractionary monetary policy decreases the money supply in the economy, drives down asset prices, and helps combat inflation. Also, it can negatively impact economic growth.
The Failure of Monetarism
However, the connection link between money supply and price levels seems to have been overestimated, as was proved in the failure of monetary economics in the last 1970s and early 1980s. Also known as the Federal Reserve’s Monetarist Experiment, the monetary tightening was not able to curb short-term inflation during this period.
There was also a growing skepticism regarding the actual stability of money demand. Many believed that money demand was pretty volatile, even on a quarterly level. Since a significant time lag is observed in the actual effects of monetary policy changes, monetarism started losing credibility.
Currently, most central banks stick to inflation targeting rather than adopting monetary targets.
conclusion, money supply determines the rate of economic growth. Thus, when the monetary authority ( Central Bank) of a country increases it’s money supply, there will be increase in economic activities and vice versa.
References
https://www.investopedia.com
https://www.cooperatefinanceinstitute.com
NWAFOR EMMANUEL ONYEDIKACHI
2019/250914
emmanuel.nwafor.250914@unn.edu.ng
THE MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The Monetarist macroeconomic system is a macroeconomic theory which conveys the idea that governments can influence its economy by focusing on its money supply. According to this school of thought, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. In simple terms Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money. The Monetarist system is the work of many economists but an American economist known as Milton Friedman is the most famous person who drove monetarism into the light. Its important to note that this school of thought acknowledges that there are other important factors that determine the growth of any economy, but to this school of thought, the supply of money in any given economy is the most important factor. The Monetarist theory also asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods.
In the monetarist theory there is something known as the quantity theory of money. This theory of money is the visual representation of the ideas that the monetarist school of thought wants the world to see, the formula in words basically outlines the following information’s which are that the money supply multiplied by the velocity of money is equal to the price of goods multiplied by the quantity of goods and services i.e. MV=PQ, thus when we analyze this formula we can say that if V (i.e. velocity of money: the number of times the average unit of money is used) remains constant and there is an increase in M (i.e. money supply) there would be corresponding increase in the value of P (prices of goods) or that of Q (quantity of goods) or both P and Q will increase, and this would cause there to be an increase in GDP which is the primary goal of any state that wants to grow. Furthermore, it is to be noted that there are two potential dangers in monetarism which are too much inflation and too little inflation, where too much inflation can be explained simply by the simple fact that the government is releasing too much new money into circulation and this can be controlled by the government simply cutting back on the new money it is releasing into the system and too little inflation, which can lead to deflation can be corrected by the government when they constantly supply more and more new money into the economy so that it would become stabilized.
Another important note to take about the monetarist school of thought is that they strongly believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is not the best course of action because it introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce the overall economic efficiency of the state. They would rather that the state makes use of monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
REFERENCES
“Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 27: Milton Friedman’s Second Thoughts on the Costs of Paper Money”. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012.
“Real Gross Domestic Product for United Kingdom, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis”. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
Bordo, Michael D. (1989). “The Contribution of A Monetury History”. Money, History, & International Finance: Essays in Honor of Anna J. Schwartz. The Increase in Reserve Requirements, 1936-37. University of Chicago Press. p. 46. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.736.9649. ISBN 0-226-06593-6. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
wikipedia.org
investopedia.com
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
Jump up to:a b Friedman, Milton (1970). “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis”. Journal of Political Economy. 78 (2): 193–238 [p. 210]. doi:10.1086/259623. JSTOR 1830684.
Jump up to:a b Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
Reg. Number: 2019/248707
MONETARY ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetary economic system is a system that adopts the supply of money in the economy. By supply of money we mean the total money in circulation and the rate at which it changes hand. They believe that that which controls the rate of growth of the economy is the supply or the presence of money in such economy.
When there is an increase in the aggregate supply of money in the economy, there is also an increase in the demand for goods and services which gives room for increase in the prices of goods and services and as such leads to inflation. On the other hand, when the supply of money in the economy decreases, there is also the likeliness of deflation.
The supply of money is mostly viewed in the traditional and Keynesian perspectives. According to this view, money supply is defined firstly as the currency with the public and the demand deposit with the commercial bank. This is denoted by M1 which is equal to deposit with the commercial bank plus currency with the public (M1 = C + D). This is known as the narrow definition.
Secondly, it is defined as the money in circulation, the demand deposit and time deposit. The time deposits are fixed with the commercial bank. This definition is broaden from the first. Thus, M2 = M1 + T which is M2 = C + D + T
The third definition is known as the broadest definition which includes: currency with the public, demand deposit, time deposit and deposit of other financial institutions. It uses the formula: M3 = M1 + M2 + liabilities of other financial institutions. This last definition is the broadest because it covers all aspect of the economy.
The supply of money in the economy is being regulated by the government and its agencies and as such a policy known as monetary policy is formed in order to control the supply of money in the economy. Money policies are those rules set by the government in the economy on the circulation of money and interest rate in order to achieve some certain goals. With these rules, the government are able to control the supply of money in the economy especially through the central bank which governs all the commercial banks in the country. When there is too much money in circulation, the central bank stop lending to the commercial banks and when there is less money in circulation, the central bank issues money to the commercial banks.
In monetarism, there are people who came up with theories in regards to the supply of money in the economy, some are: Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes.
Friedman asserted that: the government should the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. He also said that monetary policy should be done based on targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The theory can be summarized in the equation of exchange, which States that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
Where:
M = money supply
V = velocity
P = average price of goods and services
Q = quantity of goods and services
It is important to note that monetarists believe that M that is money supply are the drivers of the above given equation. A change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation and production. The assumption that velocity is held constant form the original version of quantity theory of money was dropped by John Maynard Keynes who now believed that velocity is predictable.
The growth of the economy is a function of economic activities ( that is Q) and inflation ( that is P). If velocity is constant, then an increase or decrease in M will lead to an increase or decrease in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production and employment.
Another theory propounded in monetarist economy is the liquidity preference theory by John Maynard Keynes. It is a refined theory from the quantity theory of money of which Keynes believed that velocity should not be constant but predictable since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. His theory emphasis on how change in money supply influence the price level and aggregate demand.
This change he initiated made monetarists to build on his theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange.
Although the government controls money supply, there are some things that determines such supplies. There are two views that determines the supply of money in the economy, they are supplied exogenously and endogenously. When supplied endogenously, it means money supply is determined by the central bank and when supplied endogenously, it means the people desires to hold currency than depositing it in the bank.
Reg. Number: 2019/248707
Solutions
MONETARY ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetary economic system is a system that adopts the supply of money in the economy. By supply of money we mean the total money in circulation and the rate at which it changes hand. They believe that that which controls the rate of growth of the economy is the supply or the presence of money in such economy.
When there is an increase in the aggregate supply of money in the economy, there is also an increase in the demand for goods and services which gives room for increase in the prices of goods and services and as such leads to inflation. On the other hand, when the supply of money in the economy decreases, there is also the likeliness of deflation.
The supply of money is mostly viewed in the traditional and Keynesian perspectives. According to this view, money supply is defined firstly as the currency with the public and the demand deposit with the commercial bank. This is denoted by M1 which is equal to deposit with the commercial bank plus currency with the public (M1 = C + D). This is known as the narrow definition.
Secondly, it is defined as the money in circulation, the demand deposit and time deposit. The time deposits are fixed with the commercial bank. This definition is broaden from the first. Thus, M2 = M1 + T which is M2 = C + D + T
The third definition is known as the broadest definition which includes: currency with the public, demand deposit, time deposit and deposit of other financial institutions. It uses the formula: M3 = M1 + M2 + liabilities of other financial institutions. This last definition is the broadest because it covers all aspect of the economy.
The supply of money in the economy is being regulated by the government and its agencies and as such a policy known as monetary policy is formed in order to control the supply of money in the economy. Money policies are those rules set by the government in the economy on the circulation of money and interest rate in order to achieve some certain goals. With these rules, the government are able to control the supply of money in the economy especially through the central bank which governs all the commercial banks in the country. When there is too much money in circulation, the central bank stop lending to the commercial banks and when there is less money in circulation, the central bank issues money to the commercial banks.
In monetarism, there are people who came up with theories in regards to the supply of money in the economy, some are: Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes.
Friedman asserted that: the government should the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. He also said that monetary policy should be done based on targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The theory can be summarized in the equation of exchange, which States that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
Where:
M = money supply
V = velocity
P = average price of goods and services
Q = quantity of goods and services
It is important to note that monetarists believe that M that is money supply are the drivers of the above given equation. A change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation and production. The assumption that velocity is held constant form the original version of quantity theory of money was dropped by John Maynard Keynes who now believed that velocity is predictable.
The growth of the economy is a function of economic activities ( that is Q) and inflation ( that is P). If velocity is constant, then an increase or decrease in M will lead to an increase or decrease in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production and employment.
Another theory propounded in monetarist economy is the liquidity preference theory by John Maynard Keynes. It is a refined theory from the quantity theory of money of which Keynes believed that velocity should not be constant but predictable since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. His theory emphasis on how change in money supply influence the price level and aggregate demand.
This change he initiated made monetarists to build on his theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange.
Although the government controls money supply, there are some things that determines such supplies. There are two views that determines the supply of money in the economy, they are supplied exogenously and endogenously. When supplied endogenously, it means money supply is determined by the central bank and when supplied endogenously, it means the people desires to hold currency than depositing it in the bank.
NAME:. NNA OZIOMA VINE
REG No:. 2019/247263
COURSE CODE:. ECO 204
COURSE TITLE:. MACROECONOMICS 11
DEPARTMENT:. ECONOMICS
EMAIL:. nnaozioma71@gmail.com
ASSIGNMENT: UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomics theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
DEFINITIONS OF MONETARISM SYSTEM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where: M=money supply.
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands).
P= average price of a good or service.
Q= quantity of goods and services sold.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q).
In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST vs. KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at “20% in 1979”. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates. In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation. That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today.
Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF MONETARISM
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
REFERENCE
The American Economic Review 66 (2), 163-170, 1976.
NNAMDI CHUKWUNWEIKE LUCKY
REG NO: 2019/247233
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE ( ECO/SOC)
COURSE: THEORY OF MICROECONOMICS (204)
ASSIGNMENT: DISCUSS MONETARISM MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM
What Is The Concept Of Monetarism Macroeconomic System?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. It is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Monetarism are views based on the belief on the total amount of money in an economy is the main determinants of economic growth, in which the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
The quantity theory of money
The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
Where;
M= Money supply
V= Velocity (rate at which money changes hand)
P= Average price level of goods and services
Q= Quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, which is the FISHERIAN QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY, V is held to be constant. In this view(Monetarism), V may not be constant or stable, but it does vary predictably enough with business cycle conditions that its variation can be adjusted for by policymakers and mostly ignored by theorists.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
However, An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
The Rational Between Fisherian And Monetarist Quantity Theory Of Money
Fisherian theory, suggests there is a mechanical and fixed proportional relationship between changes in the money supply and the general price level. This popular, formulation of the quantity theory of money is based upon an equation by American economist Irving Fisher.
The Fisher equation is calculated as:
M×V=P×T
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity of money
P=average price level
T=volume of transactions in the economy
Generally, the quantity theory of money explains how increase in quantity of money tend to create inflation and vice versa. However, in the theory equation, V was assumed to be constant and T is assumed to be stable with respect to M, so that a change in M directly impacts P. In other words, if the money supply increases then the average price level will tend to rise in proportion (and vice versa), with little effect on real economic activity.
But, it must be noted that Economist disagree about how quickly and how proportionately prices adjust after a change in the quantity of money, and about how stable V and T actually are with respect to time and to M.
DEFINITION OF MONETARISM
Many monetarist scholars such as Thomas Mayer, Jerome Stein, Douglas Purvis, David Laidler and James Meade, have surveyed the concept of monetarism yet there is no universally accepted definition of monetarism. It is a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
Monetarism was a reaction to early Keynesianism, which totally disregarded and discredited the role of money. Thus, it can be referred to as a theory about money which tries to make money heard because money is one of the more important variables affecting economic activity. Friedman notes that “most economists now believe that what happens in financial
markets does play a major role in determining non-financial activity
Monetarism appears to be a blend of Keynesian and classical theories. Like the Keynesians, it treats money as one among many assets in people’s portfolios, and by advocating the existence of a direct connection between money supply and spending, monetarism clearly subscribes to a fundamental premise of the classical system.
EVOLUTION/HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Modern monetarism probably got its start in the late 1950s with the publication of influential academic papers arguing
that the quantity of money played an important role in the determination
of national income.
Monetarism arose as a reaction to an obvious imbalance in early Keynesian thinking, which disregarded behavior in the
financial sector in analyzing the determinants of GNP and other important
macroeconomic variable.
CHARACTERISTIC OF MONETARISM
There have been several attempts to specify monetarism key characteristics. For (Laidler, 1981), monetarism has four characteristics:
A quantity theory approach to macroeconomic analysis
The analysis of the division of money income fluctuations between the price level and real income
A monetary approach to balance of payments and exchange rate theory.
Hatred for activist stabilization policy, wage and price controls, as well as, support for long-run monetary policy.
Advantages of Monetarism on the Economy
Monetary policy impacts the money supply in an economy, which influences interest rates and the inflation rate. It also impacts business expansion, net exports, employment, the cost of debt, and the relative cost of consumption versus saving—all of which directly or indirectly impact aggregate demand.
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out of control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Disadvantages Of Monetarism
Despite expansionary monetary policy, there is still no guaranteed economy recovery.
Some economists who criticize the Federal Reserve on the policy say that in times of recession, not all consumers will have confidence to spend and take advantage of low interest rates. If this is the case, then it is a disadvantage.
2. Cutting interest rates is not a guarantee.
Others also claim that even if the banks are given lower interest rates by the Central Bank when they borrow money, some banks might have the funds. If this happens, there will be insufficient funds people can borrow from them.
3. It will not be useful during global recession.
Proponents of expansionary monetary policy say that even if banks will lower interest rates and more consumers will spend money, during a global crisis, the export industry might suffer. They say that if this is the current situation, the losses of exporters are more than what businesses can earn from sales.
However, the connection link between money supply and price levels seems to have been overestimated, as was proved in the failure of monetary economics in the last 1970s and early 1980s. Also known as the Federal Reserve’s Monetarist Experiment, the monetary tightening was not able to curb short-term inflation during this period.
There was also a growing skepticism regarding the actual stability of money demand. Many believed that money demand was pretty volatile, even on a quarterly level. Since a significant time lag is observed in the actual effects of monetary policy changes, monetarism started losing credibility.
Currently, most central banks stick to inflation targeting rather than adopting monetary targets.
Monetarists advanced the classical program, emphasizing control of inflation as a desirable end in itself and, through the use of stabilizing institutions, as a means of improving the economy’s performance. Keynesians began by minimizing the role of monetary policy but shifted eventually to highlighting the use of monetary policy for short-term stabilization.
REFERENCE
Journal of Economic Literature
Vol. XXII (March 1984), pp. 58-76
Two Types of Monetarism
By Kevin D. Hoover
Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment
Author(s): David. Laidler
Source: The Economic Journal, Vol. 91, No. 361 (Mar., 1981), pp. 1-28
The Evolution of Monetarism
Author(s): Ronald L. Teigen
Source: Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft / Journal of Institutional and Theoretical
Economics, Bd. 137, H. 1. (März 1981), pp. 1-16
Author(s): George G. Kaufman
Review by: George G. Kaufman
Source: Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Feb., 1980), pp. 113-116
Kamsi chukwudolue Edward 2019/244066
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. From the question which states that Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. I totally agree because all the money gotten from a community is what the government use as revenue to build the society
Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to proRvide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Reference
Investopedia
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Britannica
MONETARISTS SYSTEM
Introduction
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism the quantity theory of money is emphasized, which states that; the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
This system however is closely associated with the economist Milton Friedman, who emphasizes that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, (i.e expanding it slightly each year) primary to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Also monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes on the preferred use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, we can say that some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
ANALYSING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the major driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. This increase encourages aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and promotes economic growth.
MONETARY POLICY
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, which is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When the is increment in interest rate, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
MILTON FRIEDMAN SAY ON MONETARISM SYSTEM
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who states, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and stability.
As in his book,” A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960″, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
KEYNESIAN SAY ON MONETARISM SYSTEM
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (i.e rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
TENETS OF MONETARISM SYSTEM
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary.
Contractionary monetary policy :
is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply.
Expansionary monetary policy: works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
The Monetarist Macroeconomic System.
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
History of the Monetarist Theory:
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy:
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy. When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation:
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Reference:
Corporate finance institute.com .
econlib.org .
To begin with monetarism and monetary system has to be understood.
Firstly, Monetarism
Monetarism is a macro economic theory that states governments can promote economic stability through targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Most importantly, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the root of economic growth.
Monetarism being a school of economic thought maintains that the total amount of money in an economy (money supply) In form of coin, bank deposit, currency is the highest determinant on the demand side of the short run economic activity. Friedman and others (monetarists) advocate a macro economic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. During the 1970’s and early 80’s monetarist approach became influential.
*Monetarist Theory.
Monetarist Theory can be seen as a set of Ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels or standard of economic activity.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and how the business cycle behaves.
*Understanding monetarism and monetary theory. Monetarism is an economic school of taught which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primarily the source of economic growth. Once the availability of money in the system increase, aggregate demand for goods and services increases. An increase in aggregate demand supports job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and then stimulates economic growth.
* Monetary policy: this is an economic tool used in Monetarism, that has the duty of adjusting interest rates that in turn controls the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to keep than to spend, there by reducing the money supply.
Obversly, when interest rates are lowered following expansionary monetary scheme the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more there by boosting the economy.
Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
With this, money supply will be expected to grow moderately, business will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will improve at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
In understanding monetary theory, According to monetarist theory. If a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and the other way.
Okoro Henry Chukwuebuka
2019/249001
Economics.
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money. While Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulatin MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services soldsol
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
TENETS AND PRESCRIPTIONS OF MONETARIST
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output (see “What Is the Output Gap?” in the September 2013 F&D).
The great debate
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Department: library and information science
Faculty: Education
Registration number: 2020/247015
NAME: DINYELU CHIKAODILI LOVETTE
REG. NUMBER: 2019/245486
DEPARTMENT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCE (ECONOMICS/POLITICAL SCIENCE)
FACULTY: SOCIAL SCIENCE
COURSE TITLE: MACROECONOMICS
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
LEVEL: 200 LEVEL
ASSIGNMENT: EXPLAIN MONETARY MACROECONOMICS SYSTEM
What Is Monetarism?
There has been different definitions as to what macroeconomics is which will be discussed below;
Firstly,It’s a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with an economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism and who is the father of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In Friedman’s book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, he proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Here, we look at Monetarism as an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply,multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as; MV=PQ where:
1) M=money supply 2) V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands) 3) P=average price of a good or service 4) Q=quantity of goods and services
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic. In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done.
Reference
1. Phillip Cagan, 1987. “Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), Money: The New Palgrave, pp. 195–205, 492–97.
2. Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
3. Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
4. Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
NAME: UDEOGWU PRECIOUS KOSARACHI
REG NO: 2019/244167
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY
Discuss monetarist macroeconomics
Monetarism
Is a macroeconomics theory that states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of Views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as monetarism”)
Is a fundamental macroeconomictheory that focuses on the importance of the moneysupply as a key economic force. Advocates of this theory believe that money supply is a primarydeterminant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, whiledecreasing the money supply leads to deflation andrisks, causing a recession. This is to say that money is the major key factor that determines the economic stability and disability of an economic state.
To the monetarist, Changes in the money supply also affectemployment and production levels, but themonetarist theory asserts that those effects are onlytemporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
According to the theory, monetarist policy is a much effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation. It further argues that central bank which jcontrols the levers of money policy can exert much power over economic growth rates by tinkering with the amount of currency and other liquid instruments circulating in a country’s economy.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World WarIl, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrotewith Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of theUnited States, 1867-1960,” and in a 1967 speech atthe American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory isessentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea ofcentral banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank inthe United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the GreatDepression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply atthe very moment that it should have beenexpanding it to stimulate economic growth.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand orcontract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates. For example, in the United States, the FederalReserve can change the Fed Funds Rate theinterest rate at which banks can lend moneyovernight to other banks. The Fed funds rateaffects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest ratesincrease overall. It decreases the amount ofmoneylent to businesses and consumers, thusreducing spending and economic growth.Conversely, lowering interest rates increasesborrowing by consumers and businesses, thusboosting spending and stimulating economicgrowth.
The Underlying Equation
The Underlying EquationThere is an underlying equation that forms thefoundation of the monetarist theory. It is knownas the “equation of exchange” (also referred to asthe “quantity theory of money”). Although theequation’s become quite complex due to itsexpansion and refinement by recent economists,the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Monetarist Theory Equation :MxV= PxQ Where
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate ofturnover at which a single unit of currency -e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions inthe economy (the purchase of goods and
services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced-ieeconomic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocityof money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it
changes M (the money supply) that primarilyaffects prices and economic activities.
Major Assumptions of the monetarist theory
There are several main points that the monetarist
theory derives from the equation of exchange:An increase in the money supply will lead to
Overall price increases in the economy.Increased money supply will result in onlyshort-term effects on economic output (i.e.,Gross Domestic Product – GDP) andemployment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank tofollow is to peg the money supply’s growthrate to match the rate of growth of real GDP -it is the best policy to support continuingeconomic growth and keep the rate ofinflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.Monetarist economists believe that the central
bank’s manipulation of the money supply shouldbe restricted. They believe that a central bank that
more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
Characteristics of Monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture ofThe theoreticalOn ortheoretical ideas, philosophicalquantity theory of Moneybeliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideasand policy implications and explainthem below.
1. The theoretical foundation is theQuantity Theory of Money.
2. The economy is inherently stableMarkets work well when left tothemselves. Governmentintervention can often timesdestabilize things more than theyhelp. Laissez faire is often the bestadvice.
3. The Fed should be bound to fixedrules in conducting monetarypolicy. They should not havediscretion in conducting policybecause they could make theeconomy worse off.
4. Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. Asmall role for government is good.
The Rules vs. Discretion Debate on monetarism
Because monetarists believe that the money supply is the primary determinant of nominal GDP in the short run, and of the price level in the long run, they think that control of the money supply should not be left to the discretion of central bankers. Monetarists believe in a set of “rules” that the Federal Reserve must follow. In particular, Monetarists prefer the Money growth rule: The Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money such that it equals the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. Monetarists wish to take much of the discretionary power out of the hands of the Fed so they cannot destabilize the economy.
Keynesians balk at this proposed money growth rule. Keynesians believe that velocity is inherently unstable and they do not believe that markets adjust quickly to return to potential output. Therefore, Keynesians attach little or no significance to the Quantity Theory of Money. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to take discretionary power away from the Fed. The Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. So far, Keynesians have won this debate. There has not been serious talk in some time of tying the Fed to a fixed money growth rule.
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
AN ASSIGNMENT
PREPARED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE ECO 204 (INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II)
BY
ATTAMA LILIAN OGECHUKWU
2019/243411
DATE:
FEBRUARY, 12TH 2021
DEDICATION
To the God Almighty for His inspiration.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My profound gratitude goes to my amiable lecturer, for making his unwavering tutelage in the Course INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II (ECO 204). May God bless you and your family. Amen.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
Table of Contents iv
Introduction 1
The Monetarist Theory 2
How the Monetarist Theory works in Macro-economic System 4
Conclusion 4
References 6
Introduction
Monetarist macroeconomic system has existed as an identifiable, recognizable, profitable point of view in modern macro-economics for about a quarter century (Robert, 2014). Macroeconomic phenomena are the product of all the microeconomic activity in an economy. The precise relationship between macro and micro is not particularly well understood, which has often made it difficult for a government to deliver well-run macroeconomic policy (Okpara, 2010).
Monetarism is an economic theory which focuses on the macroeconomic effects of a nations money supply and its central banking institution. It focuses on the supply and demand for money as the primary means by which economic activity is regulated. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argued that excessive expansion of the money supply will inherently lead to price inflation, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability to maintain general economic health (Chevallier, 2016).
Monetarism proposes that the growth of the money supply should be regulated to increase parallel to the potential growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and that this will stabilize prices, ensuring healthy economic growth with low inflation. Most followers of monetarism believe that government action is at the root of inflation, and view the former United States gold standard as highly impractical. While monetarism provided a foil to the previously Keynesian approach, by arguing that “money matters,” it became apparent that controlling the money supply was not enough for economic health (John, 2012).
The economic system of human society can be likened to a human body that has suffered ill-health, including the collapse of several banking systems, currencies, with out-of-control inflation, and catastrophic depressions. As humankind develops greater maturity, learning to live for the sake of others not exploiting or harming them, and a peaceful world of harmony and co-prosperity is established, our understanding of the factors that are essential to economic health will become clearer. The development of the monetarist approach can be seen as an important step in that process, although not the final one (IOkelegbe, 2013).
The Monetarist Theory
The monetarist theory (also referred to as monetarism) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Inflation is an economic concept that refers to increases in the price level of goods over a set period of time. The rise in the price level signifies that the currency in a given economy loses purchasing power (i.e., less can be bought with the same amount of money) (John, 2012).
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation. Deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Put another way, deflation is negative inflation. When it occurs, and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
How the Monetarist Theory works in Macro-economic System
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, 18671960, and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association (John, 2012).
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy the expansion or contraction of the money supply is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy the governments taxation and spending activities.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Gross domestic product (GDP) is a standard measure of a countrys economic health and an indicator of its standard of living. Also, GDP can be used to compare the productivity levels between different countries) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supplys growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central banks manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it (John, 2012).
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Conclusion
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government increasing government spending is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists such as Friedman believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Monetarists in macro-economic system believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa.
.
References
Chevallier, J. P. (2016). On the Inverse Relation Between Excess Money Supply and Growth, Monetary Creation, Aggregates and GDP Growth. Retrieved 16 January, 2007.
John J. K. (2012). A Monetarist Model of the Monetary Process: Discussion. The Journal of Finance, 25/2, Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the American Finance Association New York, N.Y. December, 28-30, 1969. 322-325. Retrieved 8 February, 2017.
Ikelegbe, A. (2013). The Nigerian Economy: Emerging Trends, Reforms and Prospects, 2013 Economic Policy Forum on Emerging Economies, on Growth, Transformation and Reform: Emerging Economies in the Next Decade. Conference Organized by CIRD, CICETE, RDRF, UNDP and GIZ, at Haikou, China, November 1-2.
Okpara, G. C. (2010). The Effect of Financial Liberalization on Selected Macroeconomic Variables: Lesson from Nigeria, The International Journal of Applied Economics and Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 53-61
Robert, V. (2014). Order, Unemployment, Inflation & Monetarism: A Further Analysis The American Economic Review, 67/4: 741-746. Retrieved on February 8, 2017.
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
AN ASSIGNMENT
PREPARED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE ECO 204 (INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II)
BY
ONYELEONU PRECIOUS OLUOMACHI
2019/248162
DATE:
FEBRUARY, 12TH 2021
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the God Almighty for His unreserved kindness and blessings to me.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I want to use this opportunity to thank my amiable lecturer, for making INTRODUCTION TO MACRO ECONOMICS II (ECO 204) an interesting course. Keep up the good work and may God bless you and your family.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
Table of Contents iv
Introduction 1
The foundation of Monetarist Macro Economic System 2
How Money Supply Affects the Economy 4
Conclusion 5
References 6
Introduction
Growing recognition of the importance of money and other monetary aggregates in the determination of spending, output, and prices has been fostered by the apparent failure of stabilization policy to curb the inflation of the last half of the l 960s. Sharply rising market interest rates were interpreted to indicate significant monetary restraint, while the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 was considered a major move toward fiscal restraint. Despite these policy developments, total spending continued to rise rapidly until late 1969, and the rate of inflation accelerated. Those holding to the monetarist view were not surprised by this lack of success in curbing excessive growth in total spending, largely because the money stock grew at a historically rapid rate during the four years ending in late 1968. Economic developments from 1965 through 1969 were in general agreement with the expectations of the monetarist view (Burton, 2014).
One school of thought called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970sbringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdomand greatly influenced the U.S. central banks decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007 2009 (Higham and Tomlinson, 2012).
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 18671960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically (Obadan and Edop, 2018).
The foundation of Monetarist Macro Economic System
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identitythat is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate and Federal Funds Rate. In the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate that depository institutions (such as banks and credit unions) charge other depository institutions. The interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy (Panić, 2015).
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
Conclusion
Monetarism has been expatiated as a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth
Many monetarists believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable Tarling, and Wilkinson, 2017).
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the Central Bank.
References
Burton, J. (2014). The Varieties of Monetarism and their Policy Implications, Three Banks Review.
Higham, D. and Tomlinson, J. (2012). Why do Governments Worry About Inflation?, Westminster Bank Review.
Ikelegbe, A. (2013). The Nigerian Economy: Emerging Trends, Reforms and Prospects, 2013 Economic Policy Forum on Emerging Economies, on Growth, Transformation and Reform: Emerging Economies in the Next Decade. Conference Organized by CIRD, CICETE, RDRF, UNDP and GIZ, at Haikou, China, November 1-2.
Obadan, M. I. and Edo, S.E. (2018). Nigerias Economic Governance Structures and Growth Performance in Perspective, The Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies, Vol. 50 (1).
Okpara, G. C. (2010). The Effect of Financial Liberalization on Selected Macroeconomic Variables: Lesson from Nigeria, The International Journal of Applied Economics and Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 53-61.
Panić, M. (2015). ‘Monetarism in an Open Economy’, Lloyds Bank Review.
Tarling, R. and F. Wilkinson, (2017). Inflation and the Money Supply, Cambridge Economic Policy Review, no. 3.
Yesufu, T. M. (2016). The Nigerian Economy: Growth Without Development, Benin City: University of Benin Social Sciences Series for Africa.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy: an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Monetary system
A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country’s economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
What Is Monetarist Theory?The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.What Is a Monetarist?A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.TAKEAWAYSMonetarists are economists and policymakers who subscribe to the theory of monetarism.Monetarists believe that regulating the money supply is the most effective and direct way of regulating the economyMonetarist Macro Economic System/ Monetarism.What Is Monetarism?Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Understanding MonetarismMonetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.Milton Friedman and MonetarismMonetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.The Quantity Theory of MoneyCentral to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.Milton Friedman is the most famous monetarist, others include Alan Greenspan and Margaret Thatcher.
ReferenceL.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.M. Friedman (1968) “The Role of Monetary Policy”, American Economic Review, Vol. 58, p.1-17. Reprinted in Friedman, 1969.M. Friedman (1968) “Money: the Quantity Theory”, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, p.432-37. Reprinted in Friedman, 1969.Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetarism
MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMICS SYSTEM
MONETARISM
According to investopedia, Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. It can also be seen as the an economic school of thought that recognizes the practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy. In other words, it is a theory which states that an economy’s stable growth is assured if the rate of increase of money supply is controlled.
Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
However, when there is an increase in money supply in an economy, it results to interest rate dropping and makes more money available for customers to borrow from banks. It will also encourage people or customers to be willing to borrow money without fear due to the low interest rate and will in turn create investments that will result to job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarism uses an economic tool known as monetary policy to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. Monetary policy can be defined as the macroeconomic policy lay down by the central bank. It involves management of money supply and interest rate and is the demand side economic policy used by the government of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity. The primary objectives of monetary policies are the management of unemployment or inflation and maintenance of currency exchange rates. In a situation where interest rates are high, customers won’t be willing to borrow money from banks. They would want to save rather than spend which reduces money supply in an economy. But when interest rates are lowered using an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
It is important to note that the founder of monetarism is known as an economist, Milton Friedman. He wrote a book known as A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 where he argued, based on the quantity theory of money that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. In other words, the government should implement the monetary policy by targeting the growth of money supply in an economy in other to ensure economic and price stability.
According to the theory, monetary policy as also stipulated by the founder is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation and unemployment.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Milton Friedman, as also written above is the founder or is recognized as the primary advocate of monetarism. He expounded the monetarist theory in a book he co wrote with Anna Schwartz which he called A Monetary History of the United States, 1867 to 1960, and a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. This was because it helped in bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to investopedia, After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
While the monetarist theory was an important guide for the central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the united. He totally blamed them for the Great Depression of the 1930s arguing that the Federal Reserve Bank tightened the money supply at the very moment when they should have been expanding it in order to ensure economic growth and stability.
Nevertheless, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Monetarists adopted the quantity theory of money from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money states that the general price level of goods and services is directly proportional to the amount of money in circulation, or money supply. This theory was originally formulated by Polish mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus in 1517, but was popularized later by economists Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz after the publication of their book.
The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill. This states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ where
M = money supply
V = velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P = average price of a good or service
Q = quantity of goods and services sold
For further explanation, monetarists believe that a change in M (money supply) directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). Normally, in the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant. If V is constant, then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
So also, an increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARISM VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory. Monetarism stands in contrast to Keynesian economics theory in which monetarism expounded by Friedman concentrates on monetary policy while Keynesian economics focuses on fiscal policy.
Monetarists believe in the extreme limited government economic intervention while Keynesian argue for active government participation and intervention.
Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government such as increasing government spending is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in recession. He believed tin active central bank and government intervention in the economy. Friedman didn’t agree to this rather he argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression in the 1930s. He believed that free markets self adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy of a country.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Conclusion
Finally, monetarism became popular because of its simplicity and the impact it made and can make in ensuring or stimulating the growth of an economy. Monetarism, however, did not stand the test of time. The money demand function was found to be unstable. Accordingly, money supply targeting proved to increase interest rate volatility and, therefore, to destabilize the real economy. David Laidler, himself a leading monetarist, closed the book on monetarism in 1989: “The simple fact remains that a further 30 years of monetarist analysis has not been able to demonstrate the empirical existence of a structurally stable transmission mechanism between money and inflation to the satisfaction of its own practitioners, let alone its critics”.
This does not mean that there is no usefulness, merits or advantages of monetarism. Some of its merits are they encourage higher levels of economic activities, they encourage a stable global economy, they promote lower inflationary rates, they create financial independence from government policies, they encourage private investments, etc.
Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to proRvide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Reference
Investopedia
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Britannica
MACRO ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT ON MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS.
Introduction:
Monetary policy, one of tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy.
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize – winning economist Milton Friedman. In his work ‘ A Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960,which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963. Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S central bank,the federal reserve,was the primary cause of the Great depression in the 1930s. In their view the failure of the Fed( as called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done .
They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity(the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy(the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them).
Equation of exchange; MV=PQ. Where M=money supply, V=velocity( rate at which money changes hands),P=average price of goods and services,Q=quantity of goods and services and services sold.
Monetarists view velocity as generally stable,which implies that nominal income is largely a function of money supply.
TENETS:
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M(money supply) are the drivers of the equation. Hence,directly affects and determines employment,inflation(p) and production(q). Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetarists also believe:
-The economy is self regulating
-Changes in velocity and the money supply can change aggregate demand
-Changes in velocity and the money supply will change the price level and Real GDP in the short run,but only the price level change in the long run.
Through monetary policy,decisions are made about the volume of money in circulation or money supply as to whether or not it is too much or too little. The volume of money supply has a direct relationship with the level of prices of goods and services.
AT ITS MOST BASIC
The quantity theory of money is the basis for several key tenet s and prescription of monetarism:
long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run,with no effect on real factor s such as consumption or output
Short run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output(GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust.
Constant money growth rule: Milton Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2% in a given year, the Fed should allow money supply to increase by 2%. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rate, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest.
REFERENCE
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/18/monetary-policy-in-challenging-times/
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm
https://www.cbn.gov.ng/monetarypolicy/conduct.asp
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sLaqUxKhclOUaaIXV8jNxfzj3pJ-qBld/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=102149986094191484297&rtpof=true&sd=true
MACRO ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT ON MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS.
Introduction:
Monetary policy, one of tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy.
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. In his work ‘ A Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960,which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963. Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S central bank,the federal reserve,was the primary cause of the Great depression in the 1930s. In their view the failure of the Fed( as called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done .
They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity(the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy(the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them).
Equation of exchange; MV=PQ. Where M=money supply, V=velocity( rate at which money changes hands),P=average price of goods and services,Q=quantity of goods and services and services sold.
Monetarists view velocity as generally stable,which implies that nominal income is largely a function of money supply.
TENETS:
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M(money supply) are the drivers of the equation. Hence,directly affects and determines employment,inflation(p) and production(q). Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetarists also believe:
-The economy is self regulating
-Changes in velocity and the money supply can change aggregate demand
-Changes in velocity and the money supply will change the price level and Real GDP in the short run,but only the price level change in the long run.
Through monetary policy,decisions are made about the volume of money in circulation or money supply as to whether or not it is too much or too little. The volume of money supply has a direct relationship with the level of prices of goods and services.
AT ITS MOST BASIC
The quantity theory of money is the basis for several key tenet s and prescription of monetarism:
long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run,with no effect on real factor s such as consumption or output
Short run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output(GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust.
Constant money growth rule: Milton Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2% in a given year, the Fed should allow money supply to increase by 2%. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rate, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest.
REFERENCE
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/18/monetary-policy-in-challenging-times/
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm
https://www.cbn.gov.ng/monetarypolicy/conduct.asp
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sLaqUxKhclOUaaIXV8jNxfzj3pJ-qBld/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=102149986094191484297&rtpof=true&sd=true
Many people Denys the fact that money plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinate of the current GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Today, the government use monetary policy to affect the overall performance of the economy. A theory formed by the monetarist which is known as monetarist theory, as advanced by Milton Friedman, state that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/ deflation in an economy. According to the theory monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation. An equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory is known as equation of exchange also referred to as the quantity theory of money. The equation is expressed as follows:
M×V=P×Q
Where M is money supply
V is the velocity of money
P is the average price level for transaction in the economy
Q is the quantity of goods and services produced.
According to the monetarist, V is relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M that primarily affects prices and Economic production.
Tenets of monetarism are as follows:
Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long-run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short run monetary non neutrality: An Increase in stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust.
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which States that the fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged.
4. Interest rate flexibility: the money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
2019/248716
Monetary policy talks about federal reserve, its a fundamental tool used by government to control and manipulate money supply which influence economic growth.
According to statistical studies,the relationship between the money supply and economic growth is positively related. This reviled that a growth in money supply will lead to economic growth and stabilised economy as a whole. The federal government of Nigeria uses monetary policies to control the aggregate demand of goods and services. For instance, an increase in the aggregate demand will surely lead to an increase in production, and curbs unemployment bringing about job creation.
One of the methods in which government applies monetary policy is by adjusting interest rate, for instance, the federal government can decide to increase interest rate through the influence of the central bank, this will influence citizens/individuals marginal propensity to consume and also the effect of the multiplier.
A decrease in interest rate will result to higher consumption of consumer goods, and money at hand and also discourage savings and vice versa.
Monetarism is uniquely associated with an economist called Milton Friedman who propounded the theory, of the quality theory of money. He advices the government to apply his theory by keeping supply of money fairly steady, increasing it slightly to encourage natural economic growth
Excessive money supply brings about inflation , because a lot of money will be chasing fewer goods. Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the k-percent rule. This rule suggests that money supply should grow at annual rate linked with the nominal gross domestic products (GDP) as expressed at a fixed percentage per year.
This rule would be efficient in the planning both at the private and public sector of the economy
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money which was adopted and imputed into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be expressed in equation, which is money supplied multiplied by velocity of money (the rate at which money change hand) is equal to average price of goods and services multiplied by output (quantity of goods and services). This equation formulated by John Stuart mill given as MV=PQ
M- money supply
V- velocity
P- average price of commodities
Q- output (quantity of commodities)
This equation is linked together because a change in M either decreases or increases would lead to a change in either P or Q
Finally, we would conclude that the role of monetary policies as an economic tool in regulating the economic activities in the nation cannot be over emphasised.
Hence, in other to achieve stability in the economy which leads to economic growth monetarism plays a vital role for the government.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARISTS SYSTEM
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman was one of the leading economic voices of the latter half of the 20th century and popularized many economic ideas that are still important today. Friedman’s economic theories became what is known as monetarism, which refuted important parts of Keynesian economics.
The Effectiveness of Monetarism in Nigeria
On the overall, monetary policy explain 98% of the changes in economic growth in Nigeria. Thus, the study concluded that monetary policy can be effectively used to control Nigerian economy and thus a veritable tool for price stability and improve output.
Advantages of Monetarism
1. It can bring out the possibility of more investments coming in and consumers spending more.
In an expansionary monetary policy, where banks are lowering interest rates on loans and mortgages, more business owners would be encouraged to expand their ventures, as they would have more available funds to borrow with affordable interest rates. Plus, prices of commodities would also be lowered, so consumers will have more reasons to purchase more goods. As a result, businesses would gain more profit while consumers can afford basic commodities, services and even property.
2. It allows for the imposition of quantitative easing by the Central Bank.
The Federal Reserve can make use of a monetary policy to create or print more money, allowing them to purchase government bonds from banks and resulting to increased monetary base and cash reserves in banks. This also means lower interest rates and, eventually, more money for financial institutions to lend its borrowers.
3. It can lead to lower rates of mortgage payments.
As monetary policy would lower interest rates, it would also mean lower payments home owners would be required for the mortgage of their houses, leaving homeowners more money to spend on other important things. It would also mean that consumers will be able to settle their monthly payments regularly—a win-win situation for creditors, merchandisers and property investors as well!
4. It can promote low inflation rates.
One of the biggest perks of monetary policy is that it can help promote stable prices, which are very helpful in ensuring inflation rates will stay low throughout the country and even the world. As inflation essentially makes an impact on the way we spend money and how much money is worth, a low inflation rate would allow us to make the best financial decisions in life without worrying about prices to drastically rise unexpectedly.
5. It promotes transparency and predictability.
A monetary policy would oblige policymakers to make announcements that are believable to consumers and business owners in terms of the type of policy to be expected in the future.
6. It promotes political freedom.
Since the central bank can operate separately from the government, this will allow them to make the best decisions based upon how the economy is performing doing at a certain point in time. Also, the banks would operate based on hard facts and data, rather than the wants and needs of certain individuals. Even the Federal Reserve can operate without being exposed to political influences.
Disadvantages of Monetarism
1. It does not guarantee economy recovery.
Economists who criticize the Federal Reserve on imposing monetary policy argue that, during recessions, not all consumers would have the confidence to spend and take advantage of low interest rates, making it a disadvantage.
2. It is not that useful during global recessions.
Proponents of expansionary monetary policy state that even if banks lower interest rates for consumers to spend more money during a global recession, the export sector would suffer. If this is the case, export losses would be more than what commercial organizations could earn from their sales.
3. Its ability to cut interest rates is not a guarantee.
Though a monetary policy is said to allow banks to enjoy lower interest rates from the Central Bank when they borrow money, some of them might have the funds, which means that there would be insufficient funds that people can borrow from them.
4. It can take time to be implemented.
With things expected to be done immediately in these modern times, implementing a monetary can certainly take time, unlike other types of policies, such as a fiscal policy, that can help push more money into the economy faster. According to experts, changes that are made for a monetary policy might take years before they begin to take place and make changes felt, especially when it comes to inflation.
5. It could discourage businesses to expand.
With this policy, interest rates can still increase, making businesses not willing to expand their operations, resulting to less production and eventually higher prices. While consumers would not be able to afford goods and services, it would take a long time for businesses to recover and even cause them to close up shop. Workers would then lose their jobs.
Monetary policy is used in to help keep economic growth and stability, but there is no guarantee that it would always help society, considering that it also has its own set if drawbacks. Based on the ones listed above, what do you think?
Understanding Monetarists
Monetarists are individuals who believe in and embrace the theory of monetarism. Monetarists also believe that the money supply is the guiding force in economic development. As such, monetary policies.
Monetarism promotes utilization of monetary policies to control demand in the economy, inflation/deflation and overall economic growth.
The theory sprang to prominence in 1970s when the United States and other countries struggled with excessive inflation. Conventional economic theories like the Keynesian concept struggled to offer solutions to stagnant growth and rising prices.
For example, with a decrease in the interest rate initiated by the central bank, there tends to be an increase in the money supply as it is easier to borrow money. As a result, people can access money easily. Subsequently, purchasing power increases, and national output increases momentarily.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}MV=PQwhere:M=money supplyV=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)P=average price of a good or serviceQ=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Firstly, What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply
Also, What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).\
Conclusion
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis
Discussion of monetarism and Monetarist Economic Systm
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the Uio.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
REFERENCE
D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
D. Higham and J. Tomlinson, ‘Why do Governments Worry About Inflation?’, Westminster Bank Review (May 1982).
G. E. J. Dennis, Monetary Economics (Longman, 1981) chs 5, 6.
J. Burton, ‘The Varieties of Monetarism and their Policy Implications’, Three Banks Review (June 1982).
K. Cuthbertson, Macroeconomic Policy: The New Cambridge, Keynesian and Monetarist Controversies (Macmillan, 1979) esp. pp. 1–12 and ch. 5.
Lord Kaldor and N. Trewithick, ‘A Keynesian Perspective on Money’, Lloyds Bank Review (January 1981).
M. Panić, ‘Monetarism in an Open Economy’, Lloyds Bank Review (July 1982).
R. Tarling and F. Wilkinson, ‘Inflation and the Money Supply’, Cambridge Economic Policy Review, no. 3 (1977).
T. Congdon, ‘Why has Monetarism Failed so Far?’, The Banker (March-April, 1982).
T. Mayer, The Structure of Monetarism (Norton, 1978).
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Monetarism or Monetarist Macroeconomic system as it implies is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore lets understand that Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words the Monetary Macroeconomic system or Monetarism is
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
• According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
• Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced– i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes
M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST THEORY VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy o the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession. Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy. Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
We are further going to discuss briefly on the history of the monetarist Macroeconomic system or theory. While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at thenvery moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM – KEY VITAL POINTS.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
• An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
• Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment level.
• The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.
•Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
CONCLUSION
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central-bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,”however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely spoused and practiced today. There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them. These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
REFERENCES
CFI Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
*D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
• Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic
• Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed.
Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton
• Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Monetarism or Monetarist Macroeconomic system as it implies is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARY MACRO
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Furthermore lets understand that Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. In other words the Monetary Macroeconomic system or Monetarism is
• Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
• Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
• According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
• Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced– i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes
M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST THEORY VS KEYNESIAN
ECONOMICS
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy o the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession. Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy. Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
We are further going to discuss briefly on the history of the monetarist Macroeconomic system or theory. While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM – KEY VITAL POINTS.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
• An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
• Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment level.
• The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.The last point is the key to the monetarist theory.
•Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
MONEY SUPPLY
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
CONCLUSION
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,”however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely espoused and practiced today. There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them. These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
REFERENCES
CFI Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
*D. E. W. Laidler, ‘Monetarism: An Interpretation and an Assessment’, Economic Journal (March 1981).
• Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic
• Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed.
Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton
• Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
The term monetarist is used to refer to an economist who values the theory that the overall money supply plays a primary role in affecting the demand in an economy. Furthermore, a monetarist believes that the regulation of the money supply can impact the performance of an economy. The foundation of such a belief comes from the idea that the regulation of the money supply allows for the regulation and control of inflation.
One fundamental aspect or facet of monetarism is the equation of exchange. Monetarists believe that an increase in the money supply at a constant velocity will result either in an increase in the average prices of goods and services or an increase in the quantity of goods and services being produced.
Exchange of Equation
M*V= P*Q
Where:
M – Money supply
V – Money turnover velocity
P – Average price levels
Q – Total quantity of goods and services produced
Furthermore, monetarists argue that in order to encourage economic growth and stability, governments should increase the money supply with a steady annual rate, which should be linked to the expected growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). The rate should be quoted as a percentage.
Constant growth in the money supply (in theory) would result in low inflation and steady economic growth. However, the theory was proven to be inaccurate during the 1980s, as developments in bank product offerings made it challenging for economists to calculate money supply, with savings being an important variable in its computation.
Department: Library and information science
Faculty: Education
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as;
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Basic tenent monetarist system
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism as a school of thought in monetary economics explains the roles of government in controlling the amount of money in circulation.It lays emphasis on the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand.Monetarism states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply in the system.A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
Monetary policy economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.Monetarists believes that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply in the economy.The central bank acts as banker to the government and I responsible for monetary policies. Monetarist tends to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates because most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
THE FATHER OF MONETARISM:
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression.As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get the recession.
FEATURES OF MONETARISM
1.The money supply is the crucial determinant of economic activity in the short-run:It is the money supply that determines total spending, and therefore, output, employment and the price level. there is also a direct link between the money supply and the national income. That link is the constant velocity of money. The constant velocity is expressed as Y/M.As a result of the stability of monetary velocity, a change in the money supply will change total spending and national income by a predictable amount. The demand for money is a stable function of income.
2.In the long-run the level of real national income is determined by the forces of demand and supply:This is based on the assumptions that prices and wages in all markets are inherently flexible. They rise in response to excess demand and fall in response to excess supply. If some prices are inflexible, the burden of their adjustments would fall on other products.the economy is usually at or near the full employment level where there is no involuntary unemployment.
3.The monetarists hold that the economy is stable: The time lag involved is so large that contra cyclical monetary policy might actually have a destabilising effect on the economy. Fiscal policy has no place in the monetarist system. It does not affect the economy unless it is accompanied by changes in the money supply. So there is no need for fiscal policy as the same results can be achieved by monetary policy.However, to stabilise the economy and avoid inflation, Friedman advocates a steady and inflexible growth in the rate of money supply. When the money supply increases at the same rate as output, the national income grows without inflation.
4. Expectations play an important role in the monetarist’s view:Every person whether he is a businessman, consumer or worker is capable of correctly anticipating the effects of his own and other persons’ actions. The monetarists hold that expectations are rational. “Decisions taken on the basis of such expectations will cause the anticipated future results to occur even more quickly, if not at once. Thus intelligent expectations are self- reinforcing and stabilising, so long as the government does not create false signals by erratic and irrational intervention.”
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY:
The quantity theory of money presents the theoretical basis for the proposition that the money supply is the most important factor in the determination of nominal income. The bedrock of the monetarist approach begins with the equation of exchange M × V = P × Y, where M is the money supply, V is velocity of money (the turnover rate of the money supply), P is the price level, and Y is real output. Therefore the equation of exchange is an identity; however, monetarists assume that velocity is stable in the short run and if this assumption is taken to the extreme fixed.
Therefore, the equation of exchange is transformed to the quantity theory of money as
: M × V̄ = P × Y, where V̄ denotes velocity as fixed. The equation here states that changes in the money supply will affect nominal income, P × Y. Moreover, monetarists would contend that changes in the money supply cause changes in nominal income.With regards to the long run consequences associated with changes in the money supply, monetarists believe that the economy is always operating near or at full employment determined by the markets for labor, capital, and technology. Indeed, if the economy is operating at its potential, the quantity theory of money in the long run can be stated as follows: M × ∆ = P × YP, where YP denotes potential real output. Thus, the long run changes in the money supply will only affect the price level.
While the changes in the money supply will only affect the price level in the long run, In the short run changes in money will have real effects. Monetarists affirms that in the short run, changes in the money supply can influence real variables such as output and employment.
KEYNESIAN VERSUS MONETARIST ECONOMY:
Keynesianism lays the emphasis on the role that fiscal policy can play in stabilising the economy. Precisely Keynesian theory suggests that higher government spending in a recession can help enable a quicker economic recovery. Keynesians say it is a mistake to wait for markets to clear as classical economic theory suggests. WhileMonetarism emphasises the importance of controlling the money supply to control inflation. Monetarists are generally critical of expansionary fiscal policy arguing that it will cause just inflation or crowding out and therefore not helpful.
Principles of Keynesianism:
In a recession/liquidity trap, government intervention can stimulate aggregate demand and real output through government borrowing and higher government spending. Therefore Keynesians advocate expansionary fiscal policy in a recession.
Keynesians reject the theory of crowding out presented by Monetarists. Keynesians say that if there is a sharp rise in private sector saving (and fall in spending), government spending can offset this decline in private sector spending.
Paradox of thrift. A key element in Keynesian theory is the idea of a ‘glut’ of savings. Keynes argued in a recession, people responded to the threat of unemployment by increasing saving and reducing their spending. This was a rational choice, but it contributes to an even bigger decline in AD and GDP. This is why government intervention may be needed.
Keynesians usually believe there is a degree of wage rigidity. In a recession, Keynes said wages might be ‘sticky downward’ as unions resist nominal wage cuts, and this can lead to real wage unemployment.
In a recession, when an economy has spare capacity, increasing aggregate demand (AD) will have an impact on real output and only minimal effect on the price level.
Keynesians believe there is often a multiplier effect. This means an initial injection into the circular flow can lead to a bigger final increase in real GDP.
Generally, Keynesians are more likely to stress the importance of reducing unemployment rather than inflation.
Keynesians reject real business cycle theories (an idea that the government can have no influence over the economic cycle)
Principle of monetarism
Monetarist Theory, which was created by economist Milton Friedman, criticized the shortcomings of the Keynesian Theory. The primary flaw, in Monetarist thinking, is the effectiveness of government spending to drive aggregate demand.Friedman and Monetarist economists focus on keeping inflation low and stable by controlling the money supply. In their view, the greatest danger to an economy is when the money supply falls either too low or rises too high for the given economic environment.For example, in times when inflation is too high, the money supply should be decreased. With less money circulating, supply and demand principles will bring inflation back down to lower levels. In the opposite scenario, like in the instance of a liquidity crisis, Monetarists think the monetary base should be expanded to prevent a damaging deflationary spiral. As a result in both cases, interest rates will move to appropriate levels to either encourage or discourage borrowing, keeping aggregate supply and aggregate demand in balance.
The key difference of both theories is that Monetarists do not think that government spending is the best path to economic stability. Instead, they emphasize inflation.Monetarists are more critical of the ability of fiscal policy to stimulate economic growth.Monetarists /classical economists believe wages are more flexible and likely to adjust downwards to prevent real wage unemployment.Monetarists stress the importance of controlling the money supply to keep inflation low.Monetarists more likely to place emphasis on reducing inflation than keeping unemployment low.
CRITICISM OF MONETARY ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The implementation of monetary policy tools does not guarantee results. People and businesses have free will. They can choose to initiate more spending when rates are lowered, or they might choose to hold onto their cash. Consumers don’t take out loans because the interest rates are down all the time. 100% of households don’t buy or refinance their home. There will always be outliers in every economy which respond in unpredictable ways. If enough entities do this, then the results of the monetary policy tools could be different than what was expected.The United States operates on budget estimates which account for 10 years of activity. Some countries can evaluate changes in half that time, while others use cycles that last for 20-40 years instead. Because currencies are not based on the scarcity of precious metals at this time, the tools must change the overall market to initiate economic shifts instead. Some changes take several years to start creating positive results. They can slow production.Economies are fueled by production. When more of it becomes available, then the chances for growth increase. If fewer activities occur, then production levels slow, and it could be several years before they can restore themselves to previous levels. Monetary policy tools try to give everyone the same chance at success. The reality of any financial market, however, is that any shift in policy will create economic winners and losers. These tools try to limit the damage to the people who struggle under the changes made while enhancing the benefits of those who see currency gains.
Finally They do not offer localized supports or value.Monetary policy tools are only useful from a general sense. They affect an entire country with the outcomes they promote. There is no way for them to generate a local stimulus effect. If a community struggles with unemployment, they might need more stimulus to counter the issue. The current design of monetary policy tools doesn’t allow this to happen. The tools are unable to be directed at specific problems, boost
In conclusion Monetarists are certain the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future.
US & WORLD ECONOMIES ECONOMIC THEORY
Monetarism Explained Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman attends a 1986 Beverly Hills charity dinner in his honor. Duringthe 1980s, Friedman’s monetarist policies ruled.
•••
BY KIMBERLY AMADEO Updated May 09, 2021
REVIEWED BY THOMAS J. CATALANO
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarist
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth. In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.5
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend. Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates. The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.9 That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Reference
Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A Test of Their Relative Importance in Economic Stabilisation — Reply”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review (April),
Friedman, Milton (1970). “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis”. Journal of Political Economy.
Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press.
Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), Money: The New Palgrave
School :University of Nigeria nsukka (unn)
Falculty: Faculty of education
Department: Department of social science education
Unit: education/ Economics .
course code: ECO 204 (Macro economics Ii)
Name: Diugwu Salvation Nmesoma
Reg. No: 2019/242289
Date : 13th February 2022
Meaning of monetarism.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to the supply shocks. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money.(MacroWelcome:2004).
The monetarists system
Monetarism, school of economic thought maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, October 3)
The tenents of the monaterist
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.Finance & devepment (2014).
Reference
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, October 3). monetarism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism.
Finance & devepment (2014) What Is Monetarism?https://www.imf.org/external
MacroWelcome (2004).Introduction to macro economics http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/monetarism.
Name: Ogbonna Mmesoma Rita
Reg no:2019/243578
Department: Social Science Education/Economics
Email address: alexmmesoma4@gmail.com
Assignment Topic: Discuss Monetarist Macroeconomic System
The monetarist system is an macroeconomic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist system works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.2
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor.3.money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression.8 As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarist system
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Monetarist systemis governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Reference
Kimberly, Amadeen(2021) Monetarism Retrieved on 07/02/2022 in
http://www.thebalance.com.
Will, Kenton (20oh21) Monetarist system Retrieved on 07/02/2022 in
http://www.investopedia.com.
Osikhotsali,momoh (2021) Monetarist explained and Examples
Retrieved on 07/02/2022 in http://www.investopedia.com.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Odo Linda Amarachi
2019/244376
Economics
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of outputOdo Linda Amarachi
2019/244376
Economics
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Odo Linda Amarachi
2019/244376
Economics
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
The monetarist system or monetarist theory(also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force.classical economists who are subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. According to the theory, increasing money supply inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels,but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
While economists Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following world war ll, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz,”A monetary History of the United States,1867-1960″,and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Milton Friedman argued based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States, Friedman proposed fixed growth rate called the k-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic products(GDP) and be expressed as a fixed Percentage per year. This way,the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly,the economy will grow at a steady rate,and inflation will be kept at low levels.
While the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the federal reserve Bank in the United States.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula:MV=PQ, M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average naira is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. This is the underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory.it is known as the”equation of exchange”(also referred to as the quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists. According to the monetarist theory, V(the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore,it changes M(the money supply)that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetary economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis(believing that it typically does more harm than good),while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
The popularity of monetarism was relatively brief.in the 1980s and 1990s,the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money-the backbone of monetarism-was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Reg no:2019/241347
Course:ECO 204(MACRO ECONOMICS)
Topic: Understanding Monetarism and Monetarist system
The word mornetarism gained it’s prominence in the year 1970s characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The founder of mornetarism is an American economist, Milton Friedman who is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent.
Monetarist theory is a contends of an economic concept that changes money supply as the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and behavior of the business cycle. Monetarism is an economic theory that sees money supply as the most important driver of economic growth. When money supply increases, people demand more , factories produce more and creating jobs. It is believed that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. This is because they tends to watch real interest rates than normal rate. Most published rates are normal rate while real rates remove the effects of inflation.
Money supply has become less useful in measuring liquidity. Money does not measure other assets like stocks, commodities and how equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because of better return. Interest rate decreases as money supply expands . This is due to bank having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That will lead to more borrowings for items in the house, automobiles and furniture thereby decreasing money supply, raise interest rate and makes loan more expensive. This slows the economic growth of a country.
Federal government reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is called contractionary monetary policy. The economy must not be tipped into recession. To avoid recession and resultant unemployment the federal government must lower their funds rate and increase the money supply. This is expansionary monetary policy.
There are several basic key tenets and prescriptions of Monetaris;
*Short-run Monetary Neutrality: A little or more increase in the money stock lead to temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short-run. This is because wages and price takes time to adjust.
*Long-run Monetary Neutrality: Increase increase in the stock for money is followed by an increase in general price level with no effect s on real factors such as output.
Interest Rate flexibility: The rule for money growth was to allow interested rate to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expect inflation with the variation in the real interest rates.
*Constant Money Growth Rule : This states that federal government should target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP
Monetarist system generally arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the main stream school of economics which was based on the idea of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. A bluepoint had been propounded by Keynes for recovery from the Great Depression suggesting that government could stimulate them ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money. Money spent would put money in people’s pockets. This leads to rising consumers demand which will give companies an initiative to expand their operations and have new workers which will increase demand. This shows the relationship between money supply and economic growth.
Theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ.
M: for money supply
V: for velocity of money
P: for level of prices in the economy
Q: for quantity of goods and services in the economy
MV accounts for all the money circulating in the economy and the speed in which it circulate.
PQ accounts for the entire output of the economy. The above equation is linked to change in supply of money which either increases or decreases the change in average price of goods and services of a nation’s income.
NAME:- UZOCHUKWU CHIDINMA VIVIAN.
REGISTRATION NUMBER:- 2017/250786.
COURSE:- MACRO-ECONOMICS.
MONETARIST SYSTEM.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
MILTON FRIEDMAN AND MONETARISM.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
THE MONETARIST QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ where M ={money supply} &V = velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} &P = {average price of a good or service} &Q = {quantity of goods and services sold}
where:
M=money supply.
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands).
P=average price of a good or service.
Q=quantity of goods and services sold.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARISM VS. KEYNESIAN THEORY.
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
REFERENCES.
International Monetary Fund. “What is Monetarism ? https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm#:~:text=Monetarism%20gained%20prominence%20in%20the,Prize%E2%80%93winning%20economist%20Milton%20Friedman.
Federal Revenue Bank of St Louis, Effective Federal funds rate https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS; Accessed May 5,2021.
International Monetary Fund , What is Monetarism ? https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARISM SYSTEM
Just as Democrats, Republicans, and others have different views on politics and public life, there are also different “parties” and schools of thought on economics and the economy. These schools of thought, like the political parties, have their leaders and their followers, and many of them, like “supply-side economics,” work their way indelibly into the political vernacular. Beyond such popular political panaceas, anybody who has spent time reading the papers or trying to understand this nebulous thing we call the economy has doubtless run into terms like “fiscal policy” and “Keynesian economics” and “monetary policy” and the “Chicago school’
By congressional design or approval, governments can change the level and direction of spending quickly. As a first step in the recovery plan for what turned out to be the Great Recession, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, providing more than $700 billion in new, “shovelready” spending programs across the country. This is the largest and one of the most quickly passed fiscal stimulus packages in history. Fiscal stimulus programs like this are designed to provide jobs and thus stimulate aggregate economic demand by giving earners the ability to spend more money. Some stimulus packages are also designed to help certain parts of the economy (as opposed to the whole), or to strengthen or encourage specific sectors. The 2009 stimulus package, for instance, contained spending for alternative energy technologies. Some fiscal stimulus programs can help reduce the effects of poverty or accomplish other social or distribution-of-income objectives. Stimulus may also be accomplished by reducing taxes, as was done several times since the beginning of the Reagan administration in the early 1980s. The tax rebate checks sent to most Americans during 2008 and the 2 percent “holiday” on payroll taxes in effect for 2011 and 2012 were more recent examples. Fiscal policy can also be used dampen or attenuate an economy. This can occur either by reducing spending (difficult to do politically in the short run) or by raising taxes. Economists are somewhat split on the effectiveness of fiscal policies. As recently demonstrated, tax reductions and especially tax rebates during tough times can simply be used for saving and thus don’t stimulate the economy. Government spending increases and decreases can be very political. They may not be allocated to the greatest need but rather subject to intense lobbying, resulting in waste and a significant loss of time before the benefits are realized (even the rapidly passed 2009 law wasn’t expected to have real effect for as much as a year). For these reasons, many believe that monetary policy is more effective, but it has boundaries too. Notably, Congress controls fiscal policy while the Federal Reserve controls monetary policy. Most likely, a combination of the two works best, as has been deployed over the course of time.
CHICAGO OR MONETARIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend. Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates. The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
While John Maynard Keynes favored government intervention to smooth supply and demand for goods and services as a way to achieve economic growth and stability, another school of thought claimed that stability was a matter of equilibrium between supply and demand of money, not the goods and services themselves. This school of thought, largely held by members of the University of Chicago faculty, most notably Dr. Milton Friedman, is known as the Chicago or Monetarist school.
Monetarism focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money, controlled by the central banks. Price stability is the goal, and policies like Keynesianism, which can lead to excessive monetary growth in the interest of stimulating the economy, are inherently inflationary. Monetarists hold that authorities should focus exclusively on the money supply. Proper money supply policy leads to economic stability in the long run, at the possible expense of some short-term pain. Monetarists are more laissezfaire in their approach—that is, the economy is best left to its own actions and reactions. To the monetarist, money supply is more important than aggregate demand; the pure monetarist would increase money supply (in small, careful increments) to stimulate the economy rather than take more direct measures to stimulate aggregate demand. The Great Depression, in the Chicago school, was caused by a rapid contraction in money supply, brought on in part by the stock market crash, not a contraction in demand per se. To the monetarists, the more direct approaches to stimulating aggregate demand are considered irrevocable (once the government intervenes, it is difficult to disengage). Worse, they crowd out private enterprise as government thirst for borrowed money to fund stimulus makes it harder and more expensive for the private sector to borrow. Monetarists also suggest that Keynesian stimulation changes only the timing and source but not the total amount of aggregate demand.
The monetarist point of view has always been embraced by policymakers who endorse a tight vigil over money supply in addition to more traditional fiscal stimulus and interest rate intervention. Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, and later Alan Greenspan, were monetarists, although critics are quick to point out that Greenspan got carried away and created too much growth in money supply, which led to strong boom and bust cycles in stocks and later in real estate. It did not lead to the expected inflation, thanks in part to the availability of inexpensive goods from Asia. We got lucky, but this attenuation of inflation may be unsustainable, particularly with the recent growth in money supply used to mitigate the Great Recession.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
AT ITS MOST BASIC
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them). The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How does it operate?
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate. The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONETARISM
Monetarism is a mixture of the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
MONETARISM IN TODAY’S WORLD
Monetarism rose to prominence in the 1970s, especially in the United States. During this time, both inflation and unemployment were increasing, and the economy was not growing. Paul Volcker was appointed as chair of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979, and he faced the daunting task of curbing the rampant inflation brought on by high oil prices and the Bretton Woods system’s collapse. He limited the money supply’s growth (lowering the “M” in the equation of exchange) after abandoning the previous policy of using interest rate targets. While the change did help the inflation rate drop from double digits, it had the added effect of sending the economy into a recession as interest rates increased. Since monetarism’s rise in the late 20th century, one key aspect of the classical approach to monetarism has not evolved: The strict regulation of banking reserve requirements. Friedman and other monetarists envisioned strict controls on the reserves held by banks, but this has mostly gone by the wayside as deregulation of the financial markets took hold and company balance sheets became ever more complex. As the relationship between inflation and the money supply became looser, central banks stopped focusing on strict monetary targets and more on inflation targets. This practice was overseen by Alan Greenspan, who was a monetarist in his views during most of his near-20-year run as Fed chair from 1987 to 2006.
CRITICISMS OF MONETARISM
Economists following the Keynesian approach were some of the most critical opponents to monetarism, especially after the anti-inflationary policies of the early 1980s led to a recession. Opponents pointed out that the Federal Reserve failed to meet the demand for money, which resulted in a decrease in available capital. Economic policies, and the theories behind why they should or shouldn’t work, are constantly in flux. One school of thought may explain a certain time period very well, then fail on future comparisons. Monetarism has a strong track record, but it is still a relatively new school of thought, and one that will likely be refined further over time.
The monetarist system is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. But there are also some other factors that determine economic growth. For instance, an increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Also, monetary policy is an economic tool used in monetarism to implement and adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Friedman, in his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867– 1960, proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels. He argued, based on the quantity theory of money , that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as: MV=PQ, where
M= money supply
V= velocity
P= price
Q= quantity of output
The monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) is the driver of the equation. A change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). Velocity (V) is held to be constant.
John Maynard Keynes countered this assumptions and is not assumed by the monetarists, he instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long run and economic output in the short run. A change in the money supply directly determines prices, production, and employment.
Keynes’ theory, known as, liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand. Velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V not constant, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy , and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMICS SYSTEM
Monetarist is a macro economic theory which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.Basically,it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economic is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman,who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism came to limelight in the 1970’s,a decade characterised by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth.The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom.After U.S peaked at 20% in 1979,the Federal Government switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory.During this time period,economist,governor and investor eagerly jumped at every new money supply.
In the year that followed, monetarism fell out of favour with many economist as the look betweens different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theme had suggested.
The supply of money in an economic is he main force of economic growth.As the availability for money increases,the Aggregate demand for good and services also increases there by encouraging job creation which tends to reduce the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
One of the toools used in monetarism is monetary policy.Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority which can either be the government or central bank of a Nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short term beginning or the money supply,it offers an attempt to reduce inflation or the interest rate,to ensure price stability and general trust of the value and stability of the nation’s currency.
Monetary policy is implemented to adjust interest rates, that is turn, control the money supply,when interest rates,that in turn controls the money supply,when interest are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend,thereby reducing or contracting the money supply.
Monetarism is closely related to Milton Friedman,who argued based on the quantity of money that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding slightly each year to allow the natural growth of the economy.Friedman who formulated the theory of monetarism asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Monetarism adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynes in framework of macroeconomics.The quality theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange,formulated by John Staurt Mill,which states that the money supply multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year,equal the nominal expenditure in the economy.The Formula as stated below
M=Money Supply
V=Velocity
P=Average price of goods or services
Q=Quantity of goods and services sold
A key point believes that changes to M is the driver of equation.
Monetarism also builds on the keynessian theory by assuming the same macro economic theory framework integrating the equation of exchange but instead focuses on the role played by money supply.
Although,most modern economist reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarist purported in the past.One of the most important of these idea is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increase in the money supply.
Proponent of monetarism generally believed that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduce macro economics distortion that reduces economic efficiency.They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage standpoint and that avoids the dead weight that fiscal policy creates in the market.
In conclusion,it is the responsibility of the central bank to control inflation.
Daniel Unique Agbenu
2019/246710
Economics department
Eco 204 assignment
The Economic School of Monetarism emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
when the economic system of capitalism replaced the economic system of feudalism (Karl Marx, 1857). In the economy of capitalism, trade and monetary exchanges grew significantly, a process that not only accompanied the accumulation of capital (precious metals) but also changed the structure of production. In the twentieth century, the Economic School of Monetarism developed under the influence of Milton Friedman’s ideas and led to the emergence of the Chicago School. Economic freedom as a high goal is a means to achieve political freedom as a highest goal (Milton Friedman, 1961). Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods.Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarist school of thought is one of the mainstream macroeconomic thought. It believes that money supply is the primary determinant of economic growth. Those who hold this view we call monetarists or monetary economists.Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective in influencing economic activity. Money has a significant role to play in the modern economy. Money is not only as a means of payment, but it also becomes a commodity to be transacted. The money’s demand and supply determine the interest rate in the economy.Ultimately, interest rates influence decisions, such as consumption and investment. Some household purchases rely on bank loans, as well as investments by businesses.
Monetary policy affects the amount of money circulating in the economy. During periods of weak growth, policymakers should increase the money supply. And, during an economic boom, policymakers reduce the money supply, thereby slowing the inflation rate.The modern economy cannot run without money. Money represents the monetary (financial) side of the economy, complementing the non-financial side (goods and services). Without it, you cannot buy goods and services or save for retirement.
The root of the monetarist school of thought
Monetarist argued that inflation is a monetary phenomenon.Due to monetary phenomena, the key to influencing inflation is the amount of money in the economy. The policy to influence the money supply is what we call monetary policy.Friedman advises central banks to maintain growth in the money supply at a rate consistent with growth in productivity and demand for goods. Otherwise, it can produce negative consequences such as hyperinflation and deflation.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
Economic stabilizer: Monetary policy
Another point of view holds that the fiscal approach presented above is misleading because it ignores.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
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Economics & Economic Systemsprice, the amount of money that has to be paid to acquire a given product. Insofar as the amount people are prepared to pay for a product represents its value, price is also a measure of value.
in the relatively free market economies of the developed Western world there are all kinds of distortions—arising out of monopolies, government interference, and other conditions—the effect of which reduces the efficiency of price as a determinant of supply and demand. In centrally planned economies, the price mechanism may be supplanted by centralized governmental control for political and social reasons. Attempts to operate an economy without a price mechanism usually result in surpluses of unwanted goods, shortages of desired products, black markets, and slow, erratic, no economic growth.
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
A monetarist is a person who believe and work in accordance with monetarism which maintain that monoy supply is the main determinant of Economic growth.
Key People: Margaret Thatcher
economics quantity theory of money and money supply equation of exchange
the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Key points
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
NAME: OLEH CHIMAMANDA ORIEOMA
REG NO: 2019/244935
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY
ANALYSIS OF MONETARIST SYSTEM
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
The central bank sets monetary policy without government interference. They operate on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
CONTROLLING MONEY SUPPLY
The Reserve Ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The Discount Rate: The interest rate the central bank charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open Market Operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Name: Opara kosisochukwu bright
Reg no: 2019/246081
Department: social science education (Economics)
What is monetarism?
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.[1] Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Furthermore, the total quantity of money in an economy is the basic measure yardstick to economic growth and development.
Which means that money is the core base of every transaction in a country, generally acceptable.
Name: Clement Ann Amaka
Reg no: 2019/245757
ANSWER
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money.
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. … The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s..
A theory in Economics that stable economic growth can be assured only by control of the rate of increase of the money supply to match the capacity for growth of real productivity.
MONETARIST SYSTEM
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country’s economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks.
NAME: UGWUNZE EMMANUEL CHUKWUEBUKA
REG NO: 2019/245483
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
MONETARIST ECONOMY
Monetarism attracted significant support during the 1960s, 70s and early 80s, when the economy experienced high rates of unemployment and inflation. Remember this was after the Phillip’s Curve (1950s) theory (which was Keynesian) – that unemployment could be “cured” with inflation.The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation in the 1970s. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to stagflation. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money. Remember that the early Keynesians emphasized fiscal policy over monetary policy (due to the liquidity trap). But after the influence of the monetarists, Keynesians began paying more attention to monetary policy as a tool.Basic Ideas (they brought the Classical School of economics back to the forefront – at least some of it): 1. Both short-run and long-run oriented 2. Markets are basically self-correcting and stable. Keynesian economics overstates the amount of macroeconomic instability in the economy. In particular, Friedman argued, that the economy will ordinarily be at potential real GDP.3. Focus is on money and inflation rather than unemployment because of similar arguments the Classical economists gave (quantity theory of money). Although they agree with Keynes that money wages will not always adjust
quickly.
4. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. In fact, most instability is caused by changes in the money supply.
The Depression – argued that Keynes was wrong: The most fluctuations in real output were caused by fluctuations in the money supply rather than by fluctuations in consumption or investment spending. Friedman and Schwartz (in their book) argued that the severity of the Great Depression was caused by the Federal Reserve’s allowing the quantity of money in the economy to fall by more than 25 percent between 1929 and 1933. Argue that the Quantity Theory of Money is correct (Keynes was wrong). More specific evidence they use includes: In other words: Between 1929 and 1933 real GNP decreased 29.6% and nominal GNP decreased 46.0% and the aggregate price level decreased. At the same time M1 decreased 26.5% and M2 (M1 + bank deposits) decreased 33.3%. Generally, therefore MV = PQ (quantity theory of money) holds (M decreased and so did PQ). The Quantity Theory of Money Revisited:Remember the Classical school gave us an early version. Then in the early twentieth century – Irving Fisher (Yale economist – also famous in finance) – formalized the connection between money and prices by using the quantity equation:M x V = P x YM = V = P = Y = real outputHe defined velocity as: “the average number of times each dollar of the money supply is used to purchase goods and services included in GDP.”So he rewrote the equation – V = P x Y/M (just divided both sides by M to solve for V)Solving for velocity: So for example – if real output (the actual amount of production) in the economy = 10 widgets. Each widget cost $10 (when sold and counted in GDP). Then nominal Y or GDP = $100 (10 x $10). Remember, this is the amount calculated in GDP – calculated when a good is sold (traded). Divide that by the money supply (number of dollars in the economy). Let’s say there are 30 dollars in the economy – then $100/30 =3.33. Each of those 30 dollars was used 3.33 times in order for those 10 widgets to be traded.He also, following the Classical school – said velocity was pretty constant. That it depended upon:1. how often people get paid2. how often people do their grocery shopping3. how often businesses mail bills4. and other factors that do not change very oftenWhether this is true or not is an empirical question.The Quantity Theory Explanation of InflationRemember – the whole point of the quantity theory for the Classical school was to show the relationship between the money supply and prices. This is what the Monetarists want to do too.So the equation was changed to include growth rates:Growth rate of the M + Growth rate of V (basically saying that if the money grows by 10% – and then each dollar is used 10% more times – that would mean this side of the equation would = 20%)= Growth rate of P (or inflation rate) + Growth rate of Y (the pie)Note the + signs, not the x signs. Changing to growth rates only makes sense if these are added, not multiplied.So the inflation rate = Growth rate of the money supply + Growth rate of velocity – Growth rate of real output.And if V is constant = it’s growth rate is always zero.So therefore: Inflation rate = Growth rate of the money supply – Growth rate of real output.So this theory predicts:
If the money supply grows at a faster rate than real GDP, there will be inflation (as we have learned).
If the money supply grows at a slower rate than real GDP, there will be deflation (as we have learned).
If the money supply grows at the same rate as real GDP, the price level will be stable, and there will be neither inflation or deflation (as we have learned
REFERENCE
L.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.
L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
NAME: OKORO-PETER OGOEGBU NNENNA
DEPT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCES(ECO/POL)
REG NO: 2019/243013
COURSE: MACROECONOMICS 2 (ECO 204)
ASSIGNMENT: UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of shortNAME: OKORO-PETER OGOEGBU NNENNA
-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
Characteristics of Monetarism.
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
1. The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help.
2. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
3. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
4. Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
At its core, monetarism is an economic formula. It states that money supply multiplied by its velocity (the rate at which money changes hands in an economy) is equal to nominal expenditures in the economy (goods and services) multiplied by price. While this makes sense, monetarists say velocity is generally stable, which has been debated since the 1980s.
The most well-known monetarist is Milton Friedman, who wrote the first serious analysis using monetarist theory in his 1963 book, A Monetary History of The United States, 1867–1960. In the book, Friedman along with Anna Jacobson Schwartz argued in favor of monetarism as a way to combat the economic impacts of inflation. They argued that a lack of money supply amplified the financial crisis of the late 1920s and led to the Great Depression, and that a steady increase in the money supply in line with growth in the economy would produce growth without inflation.
The monetarist view was a minority view in both academic and applied economics until the financial troubles of the 1970s. As unemployment and inflation soared, the dominant economic theory Keynesian economics was unable to explain the current economic puzzle presented by economic contraction and simultaneous inflation.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output (see “What Is the Output Gap?” in the September 2013 F&D).
REFERENCES
http://www.investopedia.com
en.m.wikipedia.org
http://www.econweb.com
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
* M is the money supply
* V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
* P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
* Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
* The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
* However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Rag No : 2019/244241
Dept: combine social science(Eco/pol)
Phone No:08052877190
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that explains that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa.
MILTON FRIEDMAN AND MONETARISM.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARISM VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand and thus velocity influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange,but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Reference:
https://www.britannica.com
https://www.investopedia.com
Name: Udeh Mgbechi Mary
Reg.no.: 2019/251473
Email: maryudeh2m@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and the role of central banking on an economic system.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy. Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Followers of the Monetarism school not only sought to explain contemporary problems but also interpret historical ones. Within A Monetary History Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz argued that the Great Depression of 1930 was caused by a massive contraction of the money supply and not by a dearth of investment as argued by Keynes. They also maintained that post-war inflation was caused by an over-expansion of the money supply.
Friedman argued that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” and advocated a central bank policy aimed at keeping the supply and demand for money at an economic equilibrium, as measured by a balanced growth in productivity and demand. Friedman originally proposed a fixed “monetary rule,” where the money supply would be calculated by known macroeconomic and financial factors and would target a specific level or range of inflation. There would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, and businesses could anticipate all monetary policy decisions.
Reference
Chevallier, J. P. On the Inverse Relation Between Excess Money Supply and Growth, Monetary Creation, Aggregates and GDP Growth. Retrieved 16 January, 2007.
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Monetarism. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 18 December, 2006.
Friedman, Milton and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971. ISBN 0691003548
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “monetarism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Oct. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism. Accessed 11 February 2022.
CHUKWUEMEKA FAVOUR CHIDUBEM
2019/242734
UNDERSTANDING THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
When it comes to influencing macroeconomic outcomes, governments have typically relied on one of two primary courses of action: monetary policy or fiscal policy. Now the tools are basically, the tools used by the government in stabilizing the economy.
First, what is monetary policy?
Monetary policy involves the management of the money supply and interest rates by central banks. To stimulate a faltering economy, the central bank will cut interest rates, making it less expensive to borrow while increasing the money supply. If the economy is growing too rapidly, the central bank can implement a tight monetary policy by raising interest rates and removing money from circulation.
What is fiscal policy?
Fiscal policy, on the other hand, determines the way in which the central government earns money through taxation and how it spends money. To stimulate the economy, a government will cut tax rates while increasing its own spending; while to cool down an overheating economy, it will raise taxes and cut back on spending . Now, we understand what monetary and fiscal polices are, but we would be focusing on the monetary policy alone.
What Is Monetarism? Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. They strongly believe that, the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future
The most important economic tool under the regime of monetarist economics is monetary policy. It is controlled by the central banks of a sovereign country. The central bank is the entity responsible for money creation in an economy.
Also, it increases the money supply in an economy by purchasing government bonds, and vice versa. It also exercises direct control over interest rates in the economy, which enables it to control credit flow and liquidity. Thus the two types of monetary policy:
1. Expansionary Monetary Policy
Expansionary monetary policy is one wherein the central bank lowers interest rates to promote credit availability in an economy. It means that the cost of borrowing decreases, which enables people to borrow more and consequently spend more. Thus, increasing the money supply can stimulate the economy.
2. Contractionary Monetary Policy
Under the contractionary monetary policy regime, the central bank maintains high levels of interest rates in an economy and purchases little to no amounts of government debt. Thus, it drives up the cost of credit, which disincentivizes borrowing and, consequently, spending.
Thus, a contractionary monetary policy decreases the money supply in the economy, drives down asset prices, and helps combat inflation. Also, it can negatively impact economic growth.
QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
American economist Milton Friedman is considered to be the pioneer of the school of economics called monetarism. Other proponents of the theory include Alan Walters, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, David LaLaihey used the Quantity Theory of Money to conclude that the manner in which a government can allow the natural growth of an economy is by keeping the money supply fairly steady.
The supply can be gradually increased every year, thus allowing for economic growth. A focus on the growth rate of the money supply is considered necessary in order to combat inflation triggered by excessive expansion.
According to the theory, the level of expenditures in an economy can be achieved by multiplying the money supply with the rate at which overall money is spent in the economy per year. Thus, MV = PQ.
Here, (M) denotes the money supply, (V) denotes the rate at which money changes hands (also known as the velocity of money), (P) is the average price of a good or service, while (Q) denotes the total quantity of goods and services sold.
Thus, M is considered to be in the independent variable under the control of the central banks. It means that any changes in the money supply affect the whole equation. V is considered to be constant, and thus, M is directly proportional to inflation and production. It means that an increase in the money supply leads to an increase in either the prices or the quantity of goods and services produced in an economy.
If P increases, Q will be relatively constant, and if Q increases, P is more or less constant. Thus, a change in the money supply impacts prices, production levels, and employment levels, which makes it the primary driver of economic growth.
When a country’s economy is growing at such a fast pace that inflation increases to worrisome levels, the central bank will enact restrictive monetary policy to tighten the money supply, effectively reducing the amount of money in circulation and lowering the rate at which new money enters the system. Raising the prevailing risk-free interest rate will make money more expensive and increase borrowing costs, reducing the demand for cash and loans. The Federal governmemt can also increase the level of reserves commercial and retail banks must keep on hand, limiting their ability to generate new loans. Selling government bonds from its balance sheet to the public in the open market also reduces the money in circulation
: List of Advantages of Monetary Policy
1. It can bring out the possibility of more investments coming in and consumers spending more.
In an expansionary monetary policy, where banks are lowering interest rates on loans and mortgages, more business owners would be encouraged to expand their ventures, as they would have more available funds to borrow with affordable interest rates. Plus, prices of commodities would also be lowered, so consumers will have more reasons to purchase more goods. As a result, businesses would gain more profit while consumers can afford basic commodities, services and even property.
2. It allows for the imposition of quantitative easing by the Central Bank.
The Federal Reserve can make use of a monetary policy to create or print more money, allowing them to purchase government bonds from banks and resulting to increased monetary base and cash reserves in banks. This also means lower interest rates and, eventually, more money for financial institutions to lend its borrowers.
3. It can lead to lower rates of mortgage payments.
As monetary policy would lower interest rates, it would also mean lower payments home owners would be required for the mortgage of their houses, leaving homeowners more money to spend on other important things. It would also mean that consumers will be able to settle their monthly payments regularly—a win-win situation for creditors, merchandisers and property investors as well!
List of Disadvantages of Monetary Policy
1. It does not guarantee economy recovery.
Economists who criticize the Federal Reserve on imposing monetary policy argue that, during recessions, not all consumers would have the confidence to spend and take advantage of low interest rates, making it a disadvantage.
2. It is not that useful during global recessions.
Proponents of expansionary monetary policy state that even if banks lower interest rates for consumers to spend more money during a global recession, the export sector would suffer. If this is the case, export losses would be more than what commercial organizations could earn from their sales.
3. Its ability to cut interest rates is not a guarantee.
Though a monetary policy is said to allow banks to enjoy lower interest rates from the Central Bank when they borrow money, some of them might have the funds, which means that there would be insufficient funds that people can borrow from them
CONCLUSION
The following are the key points to note :
Central banks use monetary policy tools to keep economic growth in check and stimulate economies out of periods of recession.
While central banks can be effective, there could be negative long-term consequences that stem from short-term fixes enacted in the present.
Fiscal policy refers to the tools used by governments to change levels of taxation and spending to influence the economy.
Fiscal policy can be swayed by politics and placating voters, which can lead to poor decisions that are not informed by data or economic theory.
If monetary policy is not coordinated with a fiscal policy enacted by governments, it can undermine efforts as well.
REFERENCES
Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
NAME: AUDU JACINTHA OCHANYA
REG NO: 2019/246511
DEPT: COMBINED SOCIAL SCIENCES (ECO/PHIL)
COURSE: ECO 204
DATE: FEB, 2022
DISCUSS AND ANALYZE THE MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism. Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability. This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where: M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy. Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels. The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low. The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it. However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money: The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them). The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Characteristics of Monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below:
* The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
* The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
* The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
* Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
The value of money, like that of any other commodity, is determined by forces of supply and demand. The value of money varies, other things being equal, inversely as its supply and directly as its demand. The supply of money consists of the total quantity of money and its velocity. Velocity of money means the number of times a money unit changes hands. If, for instance, during a given period, a hundred rupees note changes hand ten times, then the quantity of money in this case will be thousand rupees.
The demand for money is stated as the sale of commodities, services and property rights in exchange for money. Thus, there are three immediate determinants of the value of money; the average quantity of money available, its average velocity and the demand for money.
The theory states, that every change in the quantity of money in circulation produces, other things being equal, directly proportional change in the general price level or reverse proportional change in the value of money. In other words, the general level price varies inversely to the value of money and directly to the supply of money, if the quantity of money will be reduced to half. This concept is explained by Prof. Irving Fisher in his book “The purchasing power of Money”.
NAME: APPOLOS SOPURUCHUKWU BETHEL
REG.NO: 2019/244006
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
THE MONETARIST ECONOMY
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because
1.) they control the money supply.
2.) They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How does money supply works?
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
References
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/M1V
http://www.thebalance.com
http://study.com.
http://faculty.fortlewis.edu
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
M
V
=
P
Q
where:
M
=
money supply
V
=
velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P
=
average price of a good or service
Q
=
quantity of goods and services sold
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
Related Terms
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity. more
What Is the K-Percent Rule?
The K-Percent Rule, proposed by economist Milton Friedman, states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year. more
Quantity Theory of Money Definition
The quantity theory of money is a theory that variations in price relate to variations in the money supply. more
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money. more
Equation of Exchange Definition
The equation of exchange is a model that shows the relationship between money supply, price level, and other elements of the economy. more
Who Is Robert E. Lucas Jr.?
Robert E. Lucas Jr. is a New Classical economist who won the 1995 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on rational expectations. more
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2019/244161
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth.
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply.
Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.[5] While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.[6]
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes.[7][unreliable source?][8] With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
Opposition to the gold standard Edit
Most monetarists oppose the gold standard. Friedman, for example, viewed a pure gold standard as impractical.[9] For example, whereas one of the benefits of the gold standard is that the intrinsic limitations to the growth of the money supply by the use of gold would prevent inflation, if the growth of population or increase in trade outpaces the money supply, there would be no way to counteract deflation and reduced liquidity (and any attendant recession) except for the mining of more gold.
Rise
credited with making the first solid empirical case for the monetarist interpretation of business fluctuations in a series of papers from 1945.[1]p. 493 Within mainstream economics, the rise of monetarism accelerated from Milton Friedman’s 1956 restatement of the quantity theory of money. Friedman argued that the demand for money could be described as depending on a small number of economic variables.[10]
Thus, where the money supply expanded, people would not simply wish to hold the extra money in idle money balances; i.e., if they were in equilibrium before the increase, they were already holding money balances to suit their requirements, and thus after the increase they would have money balances surplus to their requirements. These excess money balances would therefore be spent and hence aggregate demand would rise. Similarly, if the money supply were reduced people would want to replenish their holdings of money by reducing their spending. In this, Friedman challenged a simplification attributed to Keynes suggesting that “money does not matter.”[10] Thus the word ‘monetarist’ was coined.
The rise of the popularity of monetarism also picked up in political circles when Keynesian economics seemed unable to explain or cure the seemingly contradictory problems of rising unemployment and inflation in response to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1972 and the oil shocks of 1973. On the one hand, higher unemployment seemed to call for Keynesian reflation, but on the other hand rising inflation seemed to call for Keynesian disinflation. The social-democratic post-war consensus that had prevailed in first world countries was thus called into question by the rising neoliberal political forces.[2]
In 1979, United States President Jimmy Carter appointed as Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker, who made fighting inflation his primary objective, and who restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation in the economy. The result was a major rise in interest rates, not only in the United States; but worldwide. The “Volcker shock” continued from 1979 to the summer of 1982, decreasing inflation and increasing unemployment.[11]
By the time Margaret Thatcher, Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, won the 1979 general election defeating the sitting Labour Government led by James Callaghan, the UK had endured several years of severe inflation, which was rarely below the 10% mark and by the time of the May 1979 general election, stood at 15.4%.[citation needed] Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon in her battle against inflation, and succeeded at reducing it to 4.6% by 1983. However, unemployment in the United Kingdom increased from 5.7% in 1979 to 12.2% in 1983, reaching 13.0% in 1982; starting with the first quarter of 1980, the UK economy contracted in terms of real gross domestic product for six straight quarters.[12]
Money supply decreased significantly between Black Tuesday and the Bank Holiday in March 1933 in the wake of massive bank runs across the United States.
Monetarists not only sought to explain present problems; they also interpreted historical ones. Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in their book A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 argued that the Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by a massive contraction of the money supply (they deemed it “the Great Contraction”[13]), and not by the lack of investment Keynes had argued. They also maintained that post-war inflation was caused by an over-expansion of the money supply.
They made famous the assertion of monetarism that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Many Keynesian economists initially believed that the Keynesian vs. monetarist debate was solely about whether fiscal or monetary policy was the more effective tool of demand management. By the mid-1970s, however, the debate had moved on to other issues as monetarists began presenting a fundamental challenge to Keynesianism.
Monetarists argued that central banks
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
BACKGROUND OF MONETARY POLICY
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
Monetarist theory arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the mainstream school of economics in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s, which was based on the ideas of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had provided a blueprint for recovery from the Great Depression (the severe crisis affecting the world economy in the 1930s), suggesting that governments could stimulate their ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money, even if they had to go into debt. The money they spent (on public projects and on aid to the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly, for instance) would put money in people’s pockets so that they would be able to buy the products they needed and wanted. This increased consumer demand would give companies an incentive to expand their operations and hire new workers, which would increase demand still further. The United States and other countries did, in fact, pursue such policies, and their recovery from the Depression seemed to validate Keynes’s theories. Keynesian economics continued to dominate in academia and government in the following decades, as governments generally attempted to promote economic stability through tax and spending policies.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation (the general rising of prices, which causes money to lose value) and unemployment (the percentage of people who want to work but cannot find jobs) could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory.
More Detailed Information
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation, represents the money supply, and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as a dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy, and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
BACKGROUND OF MONETARY POLICY
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
Monetarist theory arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the mainstream school of economics in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s, which was based on the ideas of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had provided a blueprint for recovery from the Great Depression (the severe crisis affecting the world economy in the 1930s), suggesting that governments could stimulate their ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money, even if they had to go into debt. The money they spent (on public projects and on aid to the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly, for instance) would put money in people’s pockets so that they would be able to buy the products they needed and wanted. This increased consumer demand would give companies an incentive to expand their operations and hire new workers, which would increase demand still further. The United States and other countries did, in fact, pursue such policies, and their recovery from the Depression seemed to validate Keynes’s theories. Keynesian economics continued to dominate in academia and government in the following decades, as governments generally attempted to promote economic stability through tax and spending policies.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation (the general rising of prices, which causes money to lose value) and unemployment (the percentage of people who want to work but cannot find jobs) could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory.
More Detailed Information
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation, represents the money supply, and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as a dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy, and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United State.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
M = money supply
V = velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P={average price of a good or service} and Q = {quantity of goods and services sold.
Reference.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=Monetarism%20is%20an%20economic%20school,primary%20driver%20of%20economic%20growth.&text=When%20interest%20rates%20are%20increased,or%20contracting%20the%20money%20supply.
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply which includes physical currency, deposits, and credit,is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance;its growth or contraction,can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The monetarist theory is a macroeconomics concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can apply much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa.Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ,where
* M is the money supply,
*V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services
*Q is the quantity of goods and services.
Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
BRIEF HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman and some others blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
REFERENCE
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
Name: Eke Ejieke Kalu
Department: Economics
Reg no:2019/244150
Date: 12/02/2022
Course Code: Eco 204
Question: Discuss Monetarist Macroeconomic system.
Answer:
Monetarist macroeconomy proponents are group of economists who hold and maintain the strong belief that money supply (including physical currency, deposits, and credit) is the primary/instigating factor affecting demand in an economy. As a result, the economy’s performance/state (that is, its growth/expansion or contraction) can be regulated by changes in the money supply. This system entails expatiation of the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.
The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
At its core, monetarism is an economic formula. It states that money supply multiplied by its velocity (the rate at which money changes hands in an economy) is equal to nominal expenditures in the economy (goods and services) multiplied by price. While this makes sense, monetarists say velocity is generally stable, which has been debated since the 1980s.
monetarism is a school of thought that emphasizes;
(1) long-run monetary neutrality
(2) short-run monetary nonneutrality
(3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and
(4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis.
It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists. Monetarist Macroeconomic system is basically similar to neoliberalism.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Y percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Y percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1(currency in circulation +demand deposit), M2(M1 + time deposit) , and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are;
(1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and
(2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Many critics characterized the “experiment” as a macroeconomic disaster. Some believed, moreover, that it provided strong and definitive evidence invalidating monetarism—partly by showing how undesirable it was to have money growth targets and partly in showing how poor are operating procedures for controlling M1 money growth by means of tight control of a narrow monetary aggregate. Monetarists argued that the episode was actually not monetarist in its design because growth rates of M1 fluctuated very widely on a month-to-month basis; the operating procedures in place were, because of lagged reserve requirements, extremely poorly designed for the control of M1; and the Fed never forswore discretionary responses to current cyclical conditions. It now seems clear that the Fed’s use of a narrow monetary aggregate for week-to-week control was highly effective in terms of public relations. The reason was that it permitted the Fed to escape political responsibility for the resulting high and, therefore, unpopular interest rate levels by claiming that these were simply the consequence of market forces.3 At the same time, by adopting a putatively monetarist approach, the Fed could at least, even if the episode was a failure, discredit monetarism and the Fed’s annoying monetarist critics. As matters played out, the episode was soon seen as a strategic success, despite temporary unhappiness, and monetarism was discredited as well!
What is left today of monetarism? While some disagreement remains, certain things are clear. Interestingly, most of the changes to Keynesian thinking that early monetarists proposed are accepted today as part of standard macro/monetary analysis. After all, the main proposed changes were to distinguish carefully between real and nominal variables, to distinguish between real and nominal interest rates, and to deny the existence of a long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Also, most research economists today accept, at least tacitly, the proposition that monetary policy is more potent and useful than fiscal policy for stabilizing the economy. There is some academic support, and a bit in central bank circles, for the real-business-cycle suggestion that monetary policy has no important effect on real
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as new keynesian. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central-bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,” however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely espoused and practiced today.
In conclusion, the main stand of the Monetarist economic system is that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
REFERENCES
1. Bordo, Michael D (1989). “The Contribution of a Monetary History: Money, History and International Finance.”
2. Harvey, David (2005). A brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University press.
3. Ladler, David E.W. (1993). The Demand for Money: Theories, Evidence, and Problems.
4. Mankiw, N. Gregory (1989). Real Business Cycles: A new Keynesian perspective.”
5. Thomas Pallet (2006). “Milton Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan.”
2018/251946
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
UGWU ONYINYECHI
2019/242302
SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION (ECONOMICS)
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasis the role of government in controlling of money in circulation.
Monetarism school of economic thought maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy,in the form of coin, currency and bank deposits)is the chief determinants on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarist advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school of thought. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970sand early 80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV=PQ. Here M is the supply of money and V is the velocity of turnover of money (is the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services)while P is the average price lev6at which each of the goods and services is sold and Q represent the quantity of goods and services produced. A change in money supply directly affects and determine production, employment and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply however becomes manifest only after a significant period of time.
Friedman contented that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage.
The trouble with monetarism lies in identifying the money in the economy that makes monetarist theory work. In the monetarist prescription, is that money should consist of irredeemable paper note and that the final power of determining how many of these are issued should be placed in the hands of government, that is , in the hands of the politicians in office. The assumption that these politicians could be trusted to act responsibly, particularly for any prolonged period, seems incredibly naive. The real problem today is the opposite of what monetarist suggest. It is how to get the arbitrary power over the stock of money out of the hands of the government, out of the hands of the politicians.
Reference
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Assignment on Eco 204 (Macro economics theory 2)
Question :Discuss and analyze the monetarist system and their tenets.
Answer :Monetarism is a school of economic thought focusing on the role of the money supply in economic fluctuations, including the following core beliefs :
1. The primary cause of inflation in an economy is the excess supply of money
2. Contraction of the money supply can also be linked directly to economic downturn : This means that when you contract money supply it can cause economic recession
3. Fluctuations in the quantity of money are the dominant cause of fluctuations in the price level, and its relationship to income
4. Manipulation of the money supply has a direct effect on the balance -of-payment and exchange rate
5. Long-run monetary policy rules or at least pre-stated “targets” are required to foster long-run, sustainable economic growth :meaning that slow and steady wins the race
Relationship between prices and wages (Inflation and our Income)
1. ” Too much money chasing too few goods” according to Milton Friedman
2. “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” according to Milton Friedman (1912 -2006)
3. Tight control of money and credit is required to maintain price stability
4. While prices are easily pushed up by increases in the money supply, wages tend to be much more “sticky”, meaning that real income fall.
Macroeconomics Policy
Attempt by the government and the central banks to use fiscal (government spending and taxes) and monetary ( the money supply and interest rates) policy to “fine-tune” the rate of growth of aggregate demands are ineffective.
Basic tenets of Monetarism
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variation in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity ( the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them)
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply + the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinants on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
Monetarist system is governed by the MV =PQ formula, in which M=money supply, V=velocity of money, P=price of goods and Q=quantity of goods and services.
REG no:2019/243013
DEPT: CSS(ECO/POL)
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
SPECIAL EDUCATION/ ECONOMICS
Oyunwola Iyanu Deborah
2019/249889
oyunwolaiyanud@gmail.com
http://Iyanu-Deborah-made2022
Monetarist Macroeconomic Theory
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced (Margaret Thatcher, 2014)
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them).
As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory viewsvelocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them). The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
References
https://www.imf.org › 2014/03PDF, basics.pdf – International Monetary Fund
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm Back to Basics What Is Monetarism? FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT, March 2014, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Sarwat Jahan and Chris Papageorgiou)
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
SPECIAL EDUCATION/ ECONOMICS
Oyunwola Iyanu Deborah
2019/249889
Monetarist Macroeconomic Theory
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced (Margaret Thatcher, 2014)
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them).
As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them). The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
References
https://www.imf.org › 2014/03PDF, basics.pdf – International Monetary Fund
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm Back to Basics What Is Monetarism? FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT, March 2014, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Sarwat Jahan and Chris Papageorgiou)
Edwin-Ugodu Stephen Chidi
2019/251264
ECO 204
ASSIGNMENT:
What is Monetarism?
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). On this basis, Monetarism is seen as a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability. The premise of monetarism lies in the idea that the total amount of money in circulation in an economy determines the rate of economic growth of that economy. In the long term, however, demand outstrips supply, which causes disequilibrium in the price markets and hence leads to inflation.
How It Works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
Monetarist Theory
American economist Milton Friedman is considered to be the pioneer of the school of economics called monetarism, which gained prominence around 1970s. Other proponents of the theory include Alan Walters, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, David Laidler, Karl Brunner, and Michael Parkin. They used the Quantity Theory of Money to conclude that the manner in which a government can allow the natural growth of an economy is by keeping the money supply fairly steady. Some key points highlighted by the theory are:
> An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
> Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
> The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy. Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
NAME: ELEKWACHI JOHN UDOCHUKWU
REG NUMBER: 2019/241890
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY (Combined Social Sciences)
Email: udoochris1@gmail.com
Level: 200
ASSIGNMENT ON ECO 204
Topic: Understanding Monetarism and monetarist system
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.
They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favour
Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression.
As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.
That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year.
He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
In summary, monetary policy in the Nigerian context refers to the actions of the Central Bank of Nigeria to regulate the money supply, so as to achieve the ultimate macroeconomic objectives of government. Several factors influence the money supply, some of which are within the control of the central bank, while others are outside its control. The specific objective and the focus of monetary policy may change from time to time, depending on the level of economic development and economic fortunes of the country. The choice of instrument to use to achieve what objective would depend on these and other circumstances. These are the issues confronting monetary policy makers.
References
Nwankwo, G. O. (1991). The money and capital market in Nigeria. London: Macmillan.
Nwankwo G.O (1980). The machinery of government that formulates and executed monetary policy. CBN Bullion Vol 5, No. 1 Ogunjimi, S.O (1997).
Okoro, A. S. (2013). Impact of monetary policy on Nigeria Economic Growth. Prime Journal of Social Sciences. Vol. 2 (2). Pp. 195-199.
Okwo, I. M. Eze, F. & Nwoha, C. Evaluation of monetary policy outcomes and its effect on price stability in Nigeria. Research Journal Finance and Accounting. Vol.3
Assignment
Eco 204 macro economics
Name: Ugwu Confidence chika
Department: Combined Social Science ( Economics/Political science)
Reg. No. 2019/245041 (correct reg no)
Assignment topic:: Discuss monetarist Macro economic system
Monetarism system
Due to the short coming of Keynesian school of thought,scholars like friedman and other economist gives rise to monetarism which is named for its focus on money’s role in the economy. This differs significantly from Keynesian economics, which emphasizes the role that the government plays in the economy through expenditures, rather than the role of monetary policy. To monetarists, the best thing for the economy is to keep an eye on the money supply and let the market take care of itself. In the end, the theory goes, markets are more efficient at dealing with inflation and unemployment.The term monetarism refers to a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability. The premise of monetarism lies in the idea that the total amount of money in circulation in an economy determines the rate of economic growth of that economy. In the long term, however, demand outgrows supply, which causes disequilibrium in the price markets and hence leads to inflation .The term monetarism refers to a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability.Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who once backed the Keynesian approach, was one of the first to break away from commonly accepted principles of Keynesian economics. In his work “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960” (1963), a collaborative effort with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, Friedman argued that the poor monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States, not problems within the savings and banking system. He argued that markets naturally move toward a stable center, and an incorrectly set money supply caused the market to behave erratically.2 With the Bretton Woods system’s collapse in the early 1970s and the subsequent increase in both unemployment and inflation, governments turned to monetarism to explain their predicaments. It was then that this economic school of thought gained more prominence
Milton Freidman used the Quantity Theory of Money to conclude that the manner in which a government can allow the natural growth of an economy is by keeping the money supply fairly steady.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an macroeconomic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where
M- is the money supply,
V- is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent),
P -is the price of goods and services and
Q -is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation. Keynesian economics was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes during the 1930s in an attempt to understand the Great Depression. Keynesian economics is considered a “demand-side” theory that focuses on changes in the economy over the short run. Keynes’s theory was the first to sharply separate the study of economic behavior and markets based on individual incentives from the study of broad national economic aggregate variables and constructs. Monetarism has several key tenets:Control of the money supply is the key to setting business expectations and fighting inflation’s effects.Market expectations about inflation influence forward interest rates.Inflation always lags behind the effect of changes in production.Fiscal policy adjustments do not have an immediate effect on the economy. Market forces are more efficient in making determinations.A natural unemployment rate exists; trying to lower the unemployment rate below that rate causes inflation, Monetarism in Practice is considered as a betterment to Keynesian thoery
Monetarism rose to prominence in the 1970s, especially in the United States. During this time, both inflation and unemployment were increasing, and the economy was not growing. Paul Volcker was appointed as chair of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979, and he faced the daunting task of curbing the rampant inflation brought on by high oil prices and the Bretton Woods system’s collapse. He limited the money supply’s growth (lowering the “M” in the equation of exchange) after abandoning the previous policy of using interest rate targets. While the change did help the inflation rate drop from double digits, it had the added effect of sending the economy into a recession as interest rates increased.
Since monetarism’s rise in the late 20th century, one key aspect of the classical approach to monetarism has not evolved: The strict regulation of banking reserve requirements. Friedman and other monetarists envisioned strict controls on the reserves held by banks, but this has mostly gone by the wayside as deregulation of the financial markets took hold and company balance sheets became ever more complex. As the relationship between inflation and the money supply became looser, central banks stopped focusing on strict monetary targets and more on inflation targets. This practice was overseen by Alan Greenspan, who was a monetarist in his views during most of his near-20-year run as Fed chair from 1987 to 2006.
Expectations
Governments had their own set of expectations. Economists had frequently used the Phillips curve to explain the relationship between unemployment and inflation, and expected that inflation increased (in the form of higher wages) as the unemployment rate fell. The curve indicated that the government could control the unemployment rate, which resulted in the use of Keynesian economics in increasing the inflation rate to lower unemployment. During the early 1970s, this concept ran into trouble as both high unemployment and high inflation were present.
Friedman and other monetarists examined the role that expectations played in inflation rates; specifically, that individuals would expect higher wages if inflation increased. If the government tried to lower the unemployment rate by increasing demand (through government expenditures), it would lead to higher inflation and eventually to firms firing workers hired to meet that demand bump. This would occur any time the government tried to reduce unemployment below a certain point, commonly known as the natural unemployment rate.
This realization had an important effect: monetarists knew that in the short run, changes to the money supply could change demand. But in the long run, this change would diminish as people expected inflation to increase. If the market expects future inflation to be higher, it will keep open market interest rates high
Criticisms of Monetarism
Economists following the Keynesian approach were some of the most critical opponents to monetarism, especially after the anti-inflationary policies of the early 1980s led to a recession. Opponents pointed out that the Federal Reserve failed to meet the demand for money, which resulted in a decrease in available capital.
Economic policies, and the theories behind why they should or shouldn’t work, are constantly in flux. One school of thought may explain a certain time period very well, then fail on future comparisons. Monetarism has a strong track record, but it is still a relatively new school of thought, and one that will likely be refined further over time.
REG NO: 2019/243013
DEPT: CSS(ECO/POL)
Monetarism is a Macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
The above statement can be attributed to Russ of @EconswithRuss on Twitter and this makes the bulk of my work here.
Now, according to Investopedia, “The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle.” This Monetary view opposes the Fiscal view of the Keynesian school of thought.
According to Milton Friedman, the father of Monetarism, central to Monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money which states that money supplied multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year is equal to the nominal expenditure in the economy.
This theory is governed by the MV = PQ formula, Where M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
As stated above, Monetarism is basically concerned with Monetary Policy. Its role in controlling the supply of money into the economy is said to be the single most important factor influencing short and long term economic changes.
Increase in money supply will increase spending and this will boost economic activities while a decrease in money supply will reduce it and in this statement hides Inflation and Deflation as well as the responsibilities of Government in times like these.
In this cycle of the economy being corrected, when there’s an increase in money supply people will have more money to spend and therefore if there’s no corresponding increase in output, you will have more money chasing less goods which will lead to competition amongst consumers thereby making sellers to increase prices which in truth devalues money and there you have Inflation.
On the other hand, with reduced money supply, people buy less as you have few money chasing many goods and sellers are forced to reduce prices in order to ensure that buyers purchase goods and reduce sellers losses and there you have Deflation.
Now, there’s the issue of Price Stability and this simply refers to a situation where change in average price level is not sudden but regular in such a way that people can adapt to it because the idea of prices remaining stagnant is utopian.
Also Economic Growth which according to Investopedia is an increase in the production of economic goods and services, compared from one period of time to another is also key in this analysis. Economic Growth is a function of economic activity and Inflation.
What then should government do to avoid pushing a country to either Inflation or Deflation?
1) Effective Monetary Policy: this will mostly stabilize prices without affecting individual output or consumption in the long term.
2) Reduce Supply of Money: this will help out in times of high Inflation.
3) Avoid Excessive Restrictions: Milton Friedman blamed the Great Depression of 1929 on the fact that there was excessive restriction upon the supply of money.
Assignment
Eco 204 macro economics
Name: Ugwu Confidence chika
Department: Combined Social Science ( Economics/Political science)
Reg. No. 2019/245049
Assignment topic:: Discuss monetarist Macro economic system
Monetarism system
Due to the short coming of Keynesian school of thought,scholars like friedman and other economist gives rise to monetarism which is named for its focus on money’s role in the economy. This differs significantly from Keynesian economics, which emphasizes the role that the government plays in the economy through expenditures, rather than the role of monetary policy. To monetarists, the best thing for the economy is to keep an eye on the money supply and let the market take care of itself. In the end, the theory goes, markets are more efficient at dealing with inflation and unemployment.The term monetarism refers to a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability. The premise of monetarism lies in the idea that the total amount of money in circulation in an economy determines the rate of economic growth of that economy. In the long term, however, demand outgrows supply, which causes disequilibrium in the price markets and hence leads to inflation .The term monetarism refers to a macro-economic concept, according to which government intervention in the economy in the form of the management of money supply is key to economic stability.Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who once backed the Keynesian approach, was one of the first to break away from commonly accepted principles of Keynesian economics. In his work “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960” (1963), a collaborative effort with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, Friedman argued that the poor monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States, not problems within the savings and banking system. He argued that markets naturally move toward a stable center, and an incorrectly set money supply caused the market to behave erratically.2 With the Bretton Woods system’s collapse in the early 1970s and the subsequent increase in both unemployment and inflation, governments turned to monetarism to explain their predicaments. It was then that this economic school of thought gained more prominence
Milton Freidman used the Quantity Theory of Money to conclude that the manner in which a government can allow the natural growth of an economy is by keeping the money supply fairly steady.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an macroeconomic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where
M- is the money supply,
V- is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent),
P -is the price of goods and services and
Q -is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation. Keynesian economics was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes during the 1930s in an attempt to understand the Great Depression. Keynesian economics is considered a “demand-side” theory that focuses on changes in the economy over the short run. Keynes’s theory was the first to sharply separate the study of economic behavior and markets based on individual incentives from the study of broad national economic aggregate variables and constructs. Monetarism has several key tenets:Control of the money supply is the key to setting business expectations and fighting inflation’s effects.Market expectations about inflation influence forward interest rates.Inflation always lags behind the effect of changes in production.Fiscal policy adjustments do not have an immediate effect on the economy. Market forces are more efficient in making determinations.A natural unemployment rate exists; trying to lower the unemployment rate below that rate causes inflation, Monetarism in Practice is considered as a betterment to Keynesian thoery
Monetarism rose to prominence in the 1970s, especially in the United States. During this time, both inflation and unemployment were increasing, and the economy was not growing. Paul Volcker was appointed as chair of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979, and he faced the daunting task of curbing the rampant inflation brought on by high oil prices and the Bretton Woods system’s collapse. He limited the money supply’s growth (lowering the “M” in the equation of exchange) after abandoning the previous policy of using interest rate targets. While the change did help the inflation rate drop from double digits, it had the added effect of sending the economy into a recession as interest rates increased.
Since monetarism’s rise in the late 20th century, one key aspect of the classical approach to monetarism has not evolved: The strict regulation of banking reserve requirements. Friedman and other monetarists envisioned strict controls on the reserves held by banks, but this has mostly gone by the wayside as deregulation of the financial markets took hold and company balance sheets became ever more complex. As the relationship between inflation and the money supply became looser, central banks stopped focusing on strict monetary targets and more on inflation targets. This practice was overseen by Alan Greenspan, who was a monetarist in his views during most of his near-20-year run as Fed chair from 1987 to 2006.
Expectations
Governments had their own set of expectations. Economists had frequently used the Phillips curve to explain the relationship between unemployment and inflation, and expected that inflation increased (in the form of higher wages) as the unemployment rate fell. The curve indicated that the government could control the unemployment rate, which resulted in the use of Keynesian economics in increasing the inflation rate to lower unemployment. During the early 1970s, this concept ran into trouble as both high unemployment and high inflation were present.
Friedman and other monetarists examined the role that expectations played in inflation rates; specifically, that individuals would expect higher wages if inflation increased. If the government tried to lower the unemployment rate by increasing demand (through government expenditures), it would lead to higher inflation and eventually to firms firing workers hired to meet that demand bump. This would occur any time the government tried to reduce unemployment below a certain point, commonly known as the natural unemployment rate.
This realization had an important effect: monetarists knew that in the short run, changes to the money supply could change demand. But in the long run, this change would diminish as people expected inflation to increase. If the market expects future inflation to be higher, it will keep open market interest rates high
Criticisms of Monetarism
Economists following the Keynesian approach were some of the most critical opponents to monetarism, especially after the anti-inflationary policies of the early 1980s led to a recession. Opponents pointed out that the Federal Reserve failed to meet the demand for money, which resulted in a decrease in available capital.
Economic policies, and the theories behind why they should or shouldn’t work, are constantly in flux. One school of thought may explain a certain time period very well, then fail on future comparisons. Monetarism has a strong track record, but it is still a relatively new school of thought, and one that will likely be refined further over time.
http://www.britannica.com
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school.
The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country’s economy.
Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury’ they mint’ the central banks and commercial Banks.
We have three monetary systems.
1. Commodity money system: a commodity money system is a monetary system in which a commodity such as gold or seashells is made the unit of value and physically used as money. The money retains its value because of its physical properties. In some cases’ a government stamp a metal coin with a face’value of Mark that indicates its weight or assert its purity’ but the value remains the same even if the coin is melted down.
2. Commodity-backed money’ also known as representative money. Many currencies have consisted of bank- issued notes which have no inherent physical value’ but which may be exchanged for a precious metal’ such as gold ( this is known as gold standard). The silver standard was widespread after the Fall of Byzantine empire’ and lasted until 1935′ when it was abandoned by China and Hong Kong. The double standard is whereby both gold and silver were legal tender.
3. Fiat money: the alternative to a commodity money system is Fiat money which is defined by a Central Bank and government law as legal tender even if it has no intrinsic value. Originally’ Fiat money was paper currency or base metal coinage but in modern economies’ it mainly exists as data such as bank balances and records of credit or debit card purchases and the fraction that is used as notes and coins is relatively small.
Money is mostly created by banks when the loan to customers. Put simply’ banks lending currency to customers create small deposits and deficit spending.
Prudential regulation also acts as a constraint on bank’s activities in order to maintain the resilence of the financial system.
Today’s global monetary system is essentially a fair system because people can use paper bills or bank balances to buy goods.
There are three tenets of monetary policy.
They are; (1). A stable money demand function.
(2). A well specified velocity of money.
3). A-reliable money creation process.
A stable money demand function: this first tenants determines real money on the demand side of the market and the torch which is’ a well specified velocity of money’ fixes nominal money on the supply side. These two tenets are present and operative.
In conclusion, monetary policy is one of the two tools the government has to manage the economy.
There are expansionary and contractionary monetary policy.
Unlike fiscal policy, Central banks controls monetary policy.
The only options for the government are;
1. Interest rate: when the interest rate is high, it’ll reduce the economic activity because, people would prefer to save in their banks, but when the interest rate is decreased, it’ll increase the economic activity because people would prefer to borrow and acquire more assets for themselves.
2. Money supply: a decrease in money supply will decrease the economic activity but, an increase in money supply will increase the economic activity because, it is the amount of money in an economy that entails how smoothly the economy will run.
What is monetarism?
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEMS.
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Economic School of Monetarism emerged. During this period, according to Karl Marx, the economic system of feudalism was replaced by the economic school of capitalism. In the economy of capitalism, trade and monetary exchanges grew significantly, a process that not only accompanied the accumulation of capital (precious metals) but also changed the structure of production.
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory that states that governments can enhance economic stability by focusing on the growth rate of the money supply. It is necessarily a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
The Quantum Theory of Money:
A major concept in monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
Where
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
WHAT IS A MONETARIST?
A monetarist is an economist who strongly believes that money supply, (including physical currency, deposits, and credit) is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
Some of the proponents of monetarist economics are as follows:
Karl Brunner, Phillip D. Cagan, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, David Laidler, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, Margaret Thatcher, Paul Volcker, Clark Warburton.
Monetarists not only sought to explain present problems; they also interpreted historical ones. Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in their book A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 argued that the Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by a massive contraction of the money supply (they deemed it “the Great Contraction”, and not by the lack of investment Keynes had argued. They also maintained that post-war inflation was caused by an over-expansion of the money supply.
ASSUMPTIONS OF MONETARISM:
If the money supply grows at a faster rate than real GDP, there will be inflation.
If the money supply grows at a slower rate than real GDP, there will be deflation.
If the money supply grows at the same rate as real GDP, the price level will be stable, and there will be neither inflation or deflation.
FEATURES OF MONETARISM
1. The money supply is the crucial determinant of economic activity in the short-run
2. The transmission mechanism of monetary influences on economic activity involves reshuffling of both financial and real assets in the portfolios of economic units:
3. In the long-run the level of real national income is determined by the forces of demand and supply
4. The monetarists hold that the economy is stable
5. Expectations play an important role in the monetarist’s view
CRITICISMS OF MONETARIST REVOLUTION:
1. Real World does not approximate to a General Equilibrium System:
The monetarist view that prices in all markets are completely flexible, is based on the Walrasian general equilibrium model of the economy. This implies that the economy is at the full employment level. Critics point out that wages and prices do not adjust themselves simultaneously in the Walrasian sense.
2. Economy not inherently stable:
The monetarists contend that the economy is inherently stable and it is interference in the form of monetary policy that brings instability. This view has not been accepted by the Keynesians who argue that there are frequent wild and erratic shocks in the economy due to variations in investment and consumption spendings that produce business cycle. This necessitates appropriate contra cyclical monetary and fiscal policies.
3. Money Supply fails to grow at a Smooth and Steady Rate:
Further, to stabilise the economy and avoid Inflation, the monetarists favour a steady growth in the rate of money supply, and the rate of intent no place in their policy-frame. But the experience of both the US and the UK tells a different story where the monetarist monetary policy was put into operation in 1979-80.
REFERENCES
https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342638241_The_Economic_School_of_Monetarism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Monetarists
https://study.com/academy/answer/what-are-the-implicit-assumptions-of-the-monetarists-in-terms-of-the-quantity-theory-of-money-and-what-is-the-theoretical-outcome-of-an-increase-in-the-money-supply.html
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEMS.
HISTORY/OVERVIEW OF MONETARISM
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods.
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with an economist known as Milton Friedman. In his seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, (1867–1960), which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the federal reserve, was the primary cause of the great depression in the united states in the 1930s.
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory that states that governments can improve economic stability by focusing on the rate at which the money supply grows. Monetarists believe that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions.
The equation of exchange explicitly explains monetarist Quantity Theory of Money which is expressed as MV = PQ.
Here m is the supply of money, and v is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while p is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
WHAT IS MONETARIST THEORY?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
List of monetarist economists
Milton Friedman, Karl brunner, Phillip d. Cagan, Alan greenspan, David laidler, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, Margaret thatcher, etc.
Milton Friedman and Anna Shwartz made famous the assertion of monetarism that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Many Keynesian economists initially believed that the Keynesian vs. Monetarist debate was solely about whether fiscal or monetary policy was the more effective tool of demand management. By the mid-1970s, however, the debate had moved on to other issues as monetarists began presenting a fundamental challenge to Keynesianism.
Monetarists argued that central banks sometimes caused major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They asserted that actively increasing demand through the central bank can have negative unintended consequences.
MONETARIST ASSUMPTIONS
One assumption implicit in monetarist theory is that the money supply is exogenous and that it can be controlled by the monetary authorities. There are several measures of the amount of money existing in the economy at any time. In the U.K. they range from very narrow definitions such as the monetary base (mo) to very wide definitions such as sterling m3 and psi2. The basic monetarist position was that any of these magnitudes could be targeted successfully. The important point was that one magnitude be chosen and that monetary policy would concentrate on keeping it within its target range.
Implicit here were two assumptions:
(i) the monetary aggregate chosen could be maintained within its target range.
(ii) all monetary measures would experience similar movements.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONETARISM
1. The theoretical foundation is the quantity theory of money.
2. The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
3. The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
4. Fiscal policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
CRITICISMS OF MONETARIST REVOLUTION:
1. Money supply endogenous:
The supply of money is varied by the monetary authorities in an exogenous manner in Friedman’s system. But the fact is that in the united states the money supply consists of bank deposits created by changes in bank lending.
2. Demand for money not stable:
Regarding the stability of the demand for money, Prof. Kaldor found that the demand for money as a proportion of income is neither stable between countries nor stable over time except in some countries.
3. Money supply and GNP not positively correlated:
Money supply and money GNP have been found to be positively correlated in Friedman’s findings. But Kaldor found his evidence to be largely irrelevant. For example, he found that in Switzerland, Italy and japan, the money supply on the broad definition, m3 had been rising for over twenty years in relation to incomes, while it had been falling in the us and the UK. Even on the narrow definition, m, the money supply in Switzerland was nearly three times as great as in the UK or the us as a proportion of the GNP. From this, he concludes that “yet no one would regard Switzerland as an ‘inflation prone’ country (let alone more
4. Neglects the role of nbfis:
The transmission mechanism explained by the monetarists has also been questioned. The Radcliffe committee and Gurley and Shaw criticize the monetarist transmission mechanism for neglecting the role played by the non-bank financial intermediaries and their effects on real and financial assets.
REFERENCES
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/monetarism
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
http://faculty.fortlewis.edu/walker_d/notes_on_monetarism.htm
https://www.microeconomicsnotes.com/monetarist-revolution/monetarist-revolution-meaning-features-and-criticisms/1558
http://www.econweb.com/macrowelcome/monetarism/notes.html
Monetarism can be defined as an economic theory based on the view that quantity of money is the main determinant of money income.
This is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. The theory led to the policy recommendation that the best contribution of the government can make to stable economic growth, is to keep the money supply growing steadily at a rate equal to the growth of aggregate supply plus any target rate of inflation, which may as well be zero.
When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Also the monetarists asserted that increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it. When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
Summary
. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
. According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
. According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Reference
* Barakchian SM and C Crowe (2013), ‘Monetary Policy Matters: Evidence from New Shocks Data’, Journal of Monetary Economics, 60(8), pp 950–966.
Beechey M and P Österholm (2008), ‘A Bayesian Vector Autoregressive Model with Informative Steady-State Priors for the Australian Economy’, Economic Record, 84(267), pp 449–465.
Berkelmans L (2005), ‘Credit and Monetary Policy: An Australian SVAR’, RBA Research Discussion Paper No 2005-06
Name: Ogaeme Onyedikachi Lovedey
Department: Economics department
Reg no: 2019/251299
Course: Eco 204. Macroeconomics II
Date: February, 2022.
Assignment
Clearly discuss and analyse the monetarist system and their tenets
Monetarism
Monetarism is a macroeconomics theory which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. It is believed that the total amount of money on an economy is the primary cause for growth. This is an economic school of thought which states that supply of money is the primary driver of economic growth. As the supply of money increase in an economy the aggregate demand also increase, these encourages job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and causes economic growth.
Monetary policy is an essential tool in monetarism, which is implemented to assist interest rate which in turn control money supply.
Monetarism is closely associated with Milton Friedman who argued that the government a should the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly mating to support natural growth. Monetarism is also a branch of Keynes theory that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand.
Milton Friedman and monetarism CT
Monetarism is closely associated with the American Economist and statistician Milton Friedman who argued based on quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the supply of money fairly steady expanding it slightly after some period of time to allow for natural growth of the economy. Through this theory Friedman expressed the importance of monetary policy and pointed out that changes in the money supply, have real short term and long term effects, specifically the money supply affects price levels. Further Friedman used Monetarism theory to contradict the Keynesian principles of the Keynesian multiplier and Philip curves.
Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman who invented the theory of monetarism asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic stability.
In his book, A monetary history of the United States 1867-1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-precent rule suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tired to the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. With this money is expected to grow moderately, business will be able to anticipate the changes in to the money supply and work accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady pace and inflation will be kept at the minimal.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to the Monetarism is the quantity of money which the monetarists adopted from the earlier economic theory and integrated it into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarised in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply multiplied by the rate of circulation of money order year equals nominal expenditures on an economy.
The formula is; MV = PQ
The quantity theory of money formula states that money supply (M) multipled by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equal the nominal expenditures (P*Q) in the economy.
Where M is money supply
V is velocity (rate at which money circulate on an economy)
P is average price of a goods or services
Q is quantity of goods and services.
Note: The monetarists believe that the changes to M (money supply) are the drivers of the equation. Infact a change to the money supply (M) directly affects and determines the employment, inflation and production. In the original version of quantity theory of money, V is to be held constant but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
References
Google research; Monetarism
Notebook; lectures
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. This is the macroeconomic view that the main causes of changes in aggregate output and price level are fluctuations in money supply. It maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced. Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
M=money supply.
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sol
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money. The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. He argued that, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so. Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity. The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
What Is the K-Percent Rule?
The K-Percent Rule, proposed by economist Milton Friedman, states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year.
MONETARY SYSTEM
A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country’s economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks. A Monetary System is defined as a set of policies, frameworks, and institutions by which the government creates money in an economy. Such institutions include the mint, the central bank, treasury, and other financial institutions. There are three common types of monetary systems – commodity money, commodity-based money, and fiat money.
Currently, fiat money is the most common type of monetary system in the world. For example, the US Dollar is fiat money.
The Three Types of Monetary Systems
1. Commodity Money
This is made up of precious metals or other commodities that have intrinsic value. In order words, the monetary system uses the commodity physically in terms of currency. This form of money retains its value even if it’s melted down. For example, gold and silver coins have been commonly used throughout history as a form of money.
2. Commodity-based Money
This draws its value from a commodity but doesn’t involve handling the commodity regularly. The notes don’t have tangible value but can be exchanged for the commodity it is backed by. For example, the US Dollar used to draw its value on gold. This was known as the Gold Standard.
3. Fiat Money
In this monetary system the currency, which by government decree is legal tender, i.e., that the government guarantees the value of the currency.
Today, most monetary systems are fiat money because people use notes or bank balances to make purchases. Fiat money is made up of paper currency or a base metal coin. However, today, most of fiat money is in the form of bank balances and records of credit or debit card purchases.
Uses of Money
1. Medium
Money is used as a means of payment or a medium of exchange and therefore eliminates the coincidence of needs problem that is created by a barter system. The coincidence of needs requires that two parties want what the other person is willing to trade, and thus makes it difficult to trade.
2. Measurement
It is also a standard unit of measurement that can be used to price things and to compare value. For example, a book costs $150, a meal costs $5, and a long-distance call costs $0.10/min. To compare their value, we can say one book = 30 meals = 1500 minutes on a long-distance call.
3. Value
Money can be used to store value, and thus it becomes an asset itself. However, money may not be a good store of value since it loses value over time due to inflation.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
*Opposition to the gold standard*
Most monetarists oppose the gold standard. Friedman, for example, viewed a pure gold standard as impractical.For example, whereas one of the benefits of the gold standard is that the intrinsic limitations to the growth of the money supply by the use of gold would prevent inflation, if the growth of population or increase in trade outpaces the money supply, there would be no way to counteract deflation and reduced liquidity (and any attendant recession) except for the mining of more gold.
*THE RISE OF MONETARISM*
*Clark Warburton* is credited with making the first solid empirical case for the monetarist interpretation of business fluctuations in a series of papers from 1945. Within mainstream economics, the rise of monetarism accelerated from Milton Friedman’s 1956 restatement of the quantity theory of money. *Friedman* argued that the demand for money could be described as depending on a small number of economic variables.Thus, where the money supply expanded, people would not simply wish to hold the extra money in idle money balances; i.e., if they were in equilibrium before the increase, they were already holding money balances to suit their requirements, and thus after the increase they would have money balances surplus to their requirements. These excess money balances would therefore be spent and hence aggregate demand would rise. Similarly, if the money supply were reduced people would want to replenish their holdings of money by reducing their spending. In this, Friedman challenged a simplification attributed to Keynes suggesting that “money does not matter.” Thus the word ‘monetarist’ was coined.
The rise of the popularity of monetarism also picked up in political circles when Keynesian economics seemed unable to explain or cure the seemingly contradictory problems of rising unemployment and inflation in response to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1972 and the oil shocks of 1973. On the one hand, higher unemployment seemed to call for Keynesian reflation, but on the other hand rising inflation seemed to call for Keynesian disinflation. The social-democratic post-war consensus that had prevailed in first world countries was thus called into question by the rising neoliberal political forces.
In 1979, United States President Jimmy Carter appointed as Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker, who made fighting inflation his primary objective, and who restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation in the economy. The result was a major rise in interest rates, not only in the United States; but worldwide. The “Volcker shock” continued from 1979 to the summer of 1982, decreasing inflation and increasing unemployment. By the time Margaret Thatcher, Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, won the 1979 general election defeating the sitting Labour Government led by James Callaghan, the UK had endured several years of severe inflation, which was rarely below the 10% mark and by the time of the May 1979 general election, stood at 15.4%.[citation needed] Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon in her battle against inflation, and succeeded at reducing it to 4.6% by 1983. However, unemployment in the United Kingdom increased from 5.7% in 1979 to 12.2% in 1983, reaching 13.0% in 1982; starting with the first quarter of 1980, the UK economy contracted in terms of real gross domestic product for six straight quarters. Money supply decreased significantly between Black Tuesday and the Bank Holiday in March 1933 in the wake of massive bank runs across the United States.
Monetarists not only sought to explain present problems; they also interpreted historical ones. Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in their book A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 argued that the Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by a massive contraction of the money supply (they deemed it “the Great Contraction”, and not by the lack of investment Keynes had argued. They also maintained that post-war inflation was caused by an over-expansion of the money supply.
They made famous the assertion of monetarism that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Many Keynesian economists initially believed that the Keynesian vs. monetarist debate was solely about whether fiscal or monetary policy was the more effective tool of demand management. By the mid-1970s, however, the debate had moved on to other issues as monetarists began presenting a fundamental challenge to Keynesianism.
Monetarists argued that central banks sometimes caused major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They asserted that actively increasing demand through the central bank can have negative unintended consequences.
*THE CURRENT STATE OF MONETARISM*
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan argued that the 1990s decoupling was explained by a virtuous cycle of productivity and investment on one hand, and a certain degree of “irrational exuberance” in the investment sector on the other.There are also arguments that monetarism is a special case of Keynesian theory. The central test case over the validity of these theories would be the possibility of a liquidity trap, like that experienced by Japan. Ben Bernanke, Princeton professor and another former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that monetary policy could respond to zero interest rate conditions by direct expansion of the money supply. In his words, “We have the keys to the printing press, and we are not afraid to use them.”
These disagreements—along with the role of monetary policies in trade liberalisation, international investment, and central bank policy—remain lively topics of investigation and argument.
*CONCLUSION*
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
*REFERENCES*
Philip Cagan , 1987. “Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), can Money: The New Palgrave, pp. 195–205, 492–97.
Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013.
NAME: MADUKA CHINAZOM DIVINE-GIFT
REG NO: 2019/245033
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS/PHILOSOPHY
MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Introduction
This is a macroeconomic theory which states that government can foster economic growth stability by targeting the growth rate of money supply. The monetarist view that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth, as the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedmanwho formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Friedman in his book “ A Monetary History of the United States” proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Characteristics of monetarist economy
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs and policy prescriptions.
1. The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money: The equation for exchange for monetarist states that M * V = P * Y. where M is the quantity of M1, V is velocity of M1, or the average number of times that the naira turns over in a given year on the purchase of final goods and services, P is the price level, and Y is real output. Thus, M is considered to be in the independent variable under the control of the central banks. It means that any changes in the money supply affect the whole equation. V is considered to be constant, and thus, M is directly proportional to inflation and production. It means that an increase in the money supply leads to an increase in either the prices or the quantity of goods and services produced in an economy. If P increases, Q will be relatively constant, and if Q increases, P is more or less constant. Thus, a change in the money supply impacts prices, production levels, and employment levels, which makes it the primary driver of economic growth.
2. Constant money growth rule: Friedman proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.¬
3. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.¬
4. Fiscal Policy often a bad policy, government should play a small role: Because Monetarist dislike too much participation of government and tend to trust free markets, they do not like government intervention and believe that fiscal policy is not helpful. Where fiscal policy could be beneficial, monetary policy can do the job better. Automatic stabilizers are sufficient sources of fiscal policy.
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to replace Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and service is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a pre ordained money target, they believe the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output. Monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.¬
In 1979, Paul A. Volcker became chairman of the Fed and made fighting inflation its primary objective. The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.¬
Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983 .¬But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable
Reference:
Friedman’s economics should consult his Essays in Positive Economics (Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1953).
Friedman’s ‘The Quantity Theory of Money: A Restatement’ in M. Friedman (ed.), Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money (Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1956).
Friedman’s ‘The Role of Monetary Policy’, American Economic Review, 58(1), March 1968, pp. 1–17.
Friedman’s A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (with Anna Schwarz, Princeton University Press for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Princeton, 1963).
Henry Simons, are contained in his ‘Rules versus Authorities in Monetary Policy’, Journal of Political Economy, 44(1) February 1936, pp. 1–30.
M. Friedman and W. Heller, Monetarism versus Fiscal Policy (W.W. Norton, New York, 1969)
William Frazer, Power and Ideas: Milton Friedman and the big U-turn (Gulf/Atlantic Publishing, Gainesville, Florida, 1988).
Ossai Mary Amarachi
2019/243684
What Is Monetarism or a Monetarist system?
Monetarism is a school of thought that lays its emphasis on the role of the government in controlling the amount of money (supply) in the economy.
Fundamentally, it is a set of views built on the credence that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services increases as well. An increase in aggregate demand fosters job opportunity, which reduces the rate of involuntary unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarism is linked with the classical economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, inflating it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive augmentation of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by focusing the growth rate of the money supply to keep up economic and price stability.
The monetarist system has it’s foundation in the Keynesian theory by taking the same macroeconomic system and integrating the equation of exchange, but instead emphasizes on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that the rate of turnover of money can be easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be involved as an approach to policies that encourage stabilization and they approve the use of monetary policy to do that.
Analytically some of the tenets of this macroeconomic theory are:
Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism- ideas marked with free market capitalism including privatization globalization deregulation etc.
Monetarists generally believe that controlling an economy through Fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in the economy
monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q).
Economic growth is a function of economic activity and inflation If V is constant then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
The monetarist system emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
At the center of monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, changes in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarists generally believe that controlling an economy through Fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in the economy
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Changes in nominal income reflect changes in real economic and inflation
Monetarist theory asserts that changes in the money outflow have major influences on national productivity the short run and on price level over longer periods.
Discuss Monetarist Macro Economic System ;
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarist macro economics system is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central thought of Monetarist Macroeconomic System ;
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P *Q) in the economy
This macro economic system is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability. Monetarist macroeconomic system is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis. As the availability of money in the system increases ,aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy is an economic tool used in monetarism, it is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Characteristics of Monetarist Macroeconomic System ;
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas ,philosophical beliefs and policy prescriptions.
The theoretical foundation is the quantity theory of money.
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often time destabilise things more than help.
The fed should be bound to be fixed in conducting monetary policy.
Fiscal policy is often bad policy.
Benefits of Monetarist Macroeconomic System ;
An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and poverty and stimulates economic growth.
It ensures the control of money supply as monetary policy is implemented to adjust interest rates
Assumptions of Monetarist Macroeconomic System :
Monetarist believe that the largest effect of money supply changes on inflation rather than real micro variables. Monetarist believe that macroeconomic policy can have little effect on real valuables such as output and employment ,that is main effect on the inflation rate.
History of Monetarist Macroeconomic System:
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In later years, however, monetarism fell out of favour with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
How Monetarist macroeconomic system works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Examples of Monetarist Macroeconomic System ;
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year .He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Name: Nkeonye Oluchi Praise
Reg. No.: 2019/250120
Department: Economics
Course:ECO 204
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
How important is money (coins, paper notes)? Is its importance limited to exchange with goods and services or does is it something bigger-as big as a driving force in the economy?
Many would hold the view of money playing a limited small role in the economy but monetarism, an economic school of thought thinks otherwise. According to the International Monetary Fund(IMF), monetarism maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money) is the chief determinant of current-dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over long periods. Monetarism is an economic school of thought that believes that money supply or the total amount of money is the chief determinant of economic growth, prices, and the inflation rate in the economy. For example, an increase in the volume of money in the economy can stimulate economic growth by increasing the demand for goods and services. If the supply of money, however, blows out of proportion, it will lead to inflation, thereby causing unintended harm to the economy. Monetarism supports the use of monetary policy by the Central Bank to control the rate of the money supply. Such policies include the purchase or sale of treasury bills, the increase or decrease of interest rate,e.t.c.
The underlying principle of monetarism is Irving Fisher’s equation of exchange; MV=PQ.
M = the total money supply
V = the velocity of money, i.e the number of times money exchanges hands in an economy
P = the average price level of goods and services
Q = the total quantity of goods and services in the economy.
Both sides of the equation have to be equal. Consequently, if there is an increase in the supply of money while the velocity of money remains relatively stable in the short run, there will be an increase in the price level or the number of goods produced. Ultimately, the money supply directly affects employment, inflation, and price levels.
The major proponent of this school of thought is Milton Friedman. He was one of the economists that accepted Keynesian Economics but later criticized the Keynesian principle of using fiscal policy to fight off the economic downturn. Since his discovery of the controlling power of money supply as detailed in his book, “A monetary history of the United States (1867-1960)”, he upheld the view of controlling the rate at which money is supplied by the Central Bank of any nation. This book revealed a thorough analysis of the US money supply from the civil war to 1960. For example, Friedman and his Co-author, Anna Schwartz argued that the cause of the Great Depression was a contraction of the money supply which led to poor economic growth in the 1930s.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s when the Feds(Federal government of the United States) applied it to solve the high inflationary rate of the USA’s economy. But it soon waned off when it was no longer priced to be effective.
As amazing as the monetary school of thought is, it has a few problems. Firstly, monetarism does not take the complete business cycle into account. The business cycle contains other factors such as the bursting of bubbles or negative real shock, but none of them is being recognized by monetarism.
Secondly, it looks at money supply as the sole determinant of economic growth without taking into consideration the different measures of the money supply. Which of the measures of the money supply should we stabilize? The narrow(currency deposit, coins, and banknotes) or a wider measure?
Despite its problems, monetarism made the importance of money supply and central bank policies known causing the widespread application to economic problems.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply.
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy
Monetarism can simply be defined as the theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy.
Monetarism is also a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
REFERENCE:
Friedman, Milton, and Anna Jacobson Schwartz, 1963a. “Money and Business Cycles”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 45(1), Part 2, Supplement, p. p. 32–64. Reprinted in Schwartz, 1987, Money in Historical Perspective, ch. 2.
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Understanding Monetorism and The Monetarist System
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
Moneytarist Theory
What It Means
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
In the 1970s governments guided by the then-dominant school of economic thought, Keynesian economics (based on the writings of British economist John Maynard Keynes), were battling high inflation (the rising of prices across the economy that causes money to lose value) and conditions of economic stagnation. Monetarists, led by American economist Milton Friedman, maintained that the Keynesian approach was flawed and that inflation could be brought under control by restraining the growth of the money supply. Under the influence of monetarist theory, the United States’ central bank, the Federal Reserve System (commonly called the Fed), was successful at reining in inflation, and in the 1980s economists and government leaders accordingly embraced the school of thought in large numbers. But subsequent changes in the economy seemed to disprove an exclusive focus on the money supply, and the doctrine’s influence waned. Although monetarism remained influential into the twenty-first century, it was in a modified form that took other variables besides the money supply into consideration.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:l
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
Within the general framework of Keynesian economics, Friedman developed his own economic theory with slightly different conclusions for economic policy. Through this theory, called Monetarism, Friedman expressed the importance of monetary policy and pointed out that changes in the money supply have real short-term and long-term effects—specifically, the money supply affects price levels.
REFERENCE
Government policy, macroeconomics, school of economic thought: Benette McCallum
Investopedia :Osikhotsali Momoh
The balance :Kimberly Amadeo
Encyclopaedia :Monetorism Theory
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
UCHEOMA CHIMDINDU
2019/241763
Danympompo123@gmail.com
MACROECONOMICTHEORY II ASSIGNMENT
Quantity theory of money (QTM) emerged in the 16th to 17th centuries and is one of the directions of the Western economic thoughts. It states that the general price level of goods and services is directly proportional to the amount of money in the economy (in circulation) or money supply. This theory was originally formulated by a Polish mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus in 1517 and was influentially restated by philosophers like John Locke. It became popular with economist such as Anna Schwartz and Milton Friedman which gave rise to MONETERISM.
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
This system also known as monetarism is based on the ideas of the American Professor Milton Friedman who tried to reform the old quantity theory of money which was introduced earlier. It is observed that one of the basic principles of Friedman’s conceptions was related on budget actions rejection; actions which in absence of such money, have little influence on total spending, output and prices, on significant variables such as macroeconomics.
Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending) and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve,[3]Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods. Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability. The result was suand the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability. The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
i. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
ii. Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
iii. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
iv. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates. Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
DEBATE AGAINST THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to sup plant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules.
Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, the monetarist system or simply monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant. It was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
REFERENCE LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetarism
https://www.coursehero.com/file/62188515/Monetarismpdf/
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/pdf/basics.pdf
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46452051_New_Monetarist_Economics_Methods
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/33707/1/MPRA_paper_33707.pdf
University of Nigeria Nsukka
Faculty of Education
Department of social science
( Economics Education)
TOPIC:
Understanding monetarism and the monestarist system
By:
EZEOHA NNENNA MERCY
2019/249099
February 13, 2022
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
In the 1970s governments guided by the then-dominant school of economic thought, Keynesian economics (based on the writings of British economist John Maynard Keynes), were battling high inflation (the rising of prices across the economy that causes money to lose value) and conditions of economic stagnation. Monetarists, led by American economist Milton Friedman, maintained that the Keynesian approach was flawed and that inflation could be brought under control by restraining the growth of the money supply. Under the influence of monetarist theory, the United States’ central bank, the Federal Reserve System (commonly called the Fed), was successful at reining in inflation, and in the 1980s economists and government leaders accordingly embraced the school of thought in large numbers. But subsequent changes in the economy seemed to disprove an exclusive focus on the money supply, and the doctrine’s influence waned. Although monetarism remained influential into the twenty-first century, it was in a modified form that took other variables besides the money supply into consideration.
When Did It Begin
Monetarist theory arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the mainstream school of economics in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s, which was based on the ideas of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had provided a blueprint for recovery from the Great Depression (the severe crisis affecting the world economy in the 1930s), suggesting that governments could stimulate their ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money, even if they had to go into debt. The money they spent (on public projects and on aid to the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly, for instance) would put money in people’s pockets so that they would be able to buy the products they needed and wanted. This increased consumer demand would give companies an incentive to expand their operations and hire new workers, which would increase demand still further. The United States and other countries did, in fact, pursue such policies, and their recovery from the Depression seemed to validate Keynes’s theories. Keynesian economics continued to dominate in academia and government in the following decades, as governments generally attempted to promote economic stability through tax and spending policies.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation (the general rising of prices, which causes money to lose value) and unemployment (the percentage of people who want to work but cannot find jobs) could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory.
More Detailed Information
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation, represents the money supply, and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as a dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy, and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
Recent Trends
After the onset of stagflation, which Friedman had predicted, U.S. government leaders turned increasingly to monetarist theory. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter nominated a monetarist, Paul Volcker, as chairman of the Fed, and Volcker made it his mission to battle inflation by decreasing the size of the money supply. Between 1981 and 1983 the reduction in the money supply, coupled with falling oil prices, led to the rate of inflation dropping from 13.5 percent to 3.2 percent. It remained low through the early twenty-first century under Volcker’s successor, Alan Greenspan, who was also a proponent of monetarist theory.
Monetarism was most completely embraced during the administration of President Ronald Reagan (1981-89). Changes in the economy during the 1980s seemed to disprove monetarist theory, however. After inflation had been cut so drastically, people were slower to spend money. (When money is losing value quickly due to high inflation, people want to spend it quickly so as to get the maximum value for their dollars; when money maintains its value, this urge is muted.) Therefore, the velocity of money (V in the equation of exchange, the speed with which the average dollar changes hands) decreased greatly, diminishing the effects of increasing the money supply. Also, new forms of bank accounts made it harder to calculate the money supply (the money supply consists not just of coins and bills but also of bank-account balances). Together, these developments pointed out the shortcomings in a strict monetarist focus. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve and other central banks continued, into the twenty-first century, to follow modified forms of monetarism when it came to making decisions about the money supply.
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Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
Quantity Theory of Money Definition
The quantity theory of money is a theory that variations in price relate to variations in the money supply. more
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
Equation of Exchange Definition
The equation of exchange is a model that shows the relationship between money supply, price level, and other elements of the economy.
What is monetarist?
Its emphasis on money’s importance gained sway in the 1970s
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession.
monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment.
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.
But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable.
The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits.
The monetarist interpretation of the Great Depression was not entirely forgotten. In a speech during a celebration of Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday in late 2002, then-Fed governor Ben S. Bernanke, who would become chairman four years later, said, “I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We [the Fed] did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.”
Fed Bernanke mentioned the work of Friedman and Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates and increase money supply to stimulate the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. Prominent monetarists (including Schwartz) argued that the Fed stimulus would lead to extremely high inflation. Instead, velocity dropped sharply and deflation is seen as a much more serious risk.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago.
REFERENCE
R. Taring and F . Wikinson, inflation and the money supply.
Inflation and growth palgrave MacMillan.
Rowan D. C (1983) monestarist macroeconomics
G. E. J . Dennis, monetary Economics
NAME: ONWUEGBUNA PRECIOUS ONYINYE
REG NO: 2019/245507
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing
government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
EGWUONWU OLISAEMEKA ELOCHUKWU
2019/245027
Economics
ECO 204
MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy.
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the great depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
MV=PQ
Where :
m=money supply
V= velocity of money
P=price level
Q=output
Points derived from the equation of exchange are;
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end Stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
NAME:. ANIBODI CHIAMAKA TESKA
DEPARTMENT: EDUCATION ECONOMICS
REG NO: 2019/243747
COURSE CODE AND TITLE: ECO 204 MACRO ECONOMIC THEORY 2
DISCUSS THE MONETARIST MACRO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Formulated by Milton Friedman, he argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability as significantly from those of the formerly dominant kenysian school. Monetarism is a macro economic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism is also an economic theory that focuses on the macro economic effects of the supply of money and central banking. The monetarists also stated that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. The monetarists also believes that monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy and that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than norminal rates. When the money supply expands, it lowers the interest rates thereby making consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles and furnitures (fixed assets) also decreasing the money supply raises interest rates making loans more expensive and this slows economic growth
The monetarists approach became influential during that 1970s and early 80s in “A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963), Friedman in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S money supply from the end of the civil war to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously. Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross Domestic product. Monetarialism thus poisted that the steady moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation.
There are different monetary tools used by the federal government such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
TYPES OF MONETARY POLICY:
1. Contractionary Monetary policy: This is when the federal government reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply.
2. Expansionary Monetary Policy: This is when the federal government lowers the federal funds rate and increases the money supply.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation represents the money supply and V, represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as dollar) changes hands. P, stands for the level of prices in the economy and Q, for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
NAME: NWAKANMA JESSE UCHECHI
REG NO: 2019/244384
Monetarism, a term first used by Brunner in 1968, can be understood in two ways. The first relates to the economic thought that sees in the quantity of money the major source of economic activity and its disruptions (especially inflation), as well as believing that targeting the growth of money supply is the best monetary policy. Secondly, it refers to a large group of economists adherent to these thoughts, lead by Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of economics.
This paradigm, which gained popularity in the 1960s, relates closely to neoclassical economics, believing that free flow of credit and interest rates, as well as a laissez faire attitude is the best way to go, since limited public intervention and a competitive economic system will grant better results than those resulting from Keynesian economics. However, since monetarists consider monetary policy more effective, government control over money supply is required. Also, since monetarists believed in the importance of the quantity of money, the equation of exchange regained popularity.
Monetarists view fiscal policy less effective than monetary policy because of the low interest elasticity of money demand. Therefore, when using the IS-LM model, monetarists consider the IS curve more elastic than the one used by Keynesians, and a LM curve more inelastic. This is the reason why, when using the monetarist’ IS-LM model, public investment created by fiscal policy creates a crowding out effect over private investment, reducing the effectiveness of public spending. However, even though monetary policy is more reliable, its effects may take a while to be noted in the economy, and therefore its implementation can be difficult.
Concerning the Phillips curve, monetarists criticise the money illusion implied in it, which is the basis for the relationship between inflation and unemployment. They believe that, given an unanticipated higher inflation and the subsequent decrease in unemployment, the trade-off shown in the Phillips curve will hold. However this will not be the case when monetary policies are anticipated, implying that the trade-off between inflation and unemployment does not apply in the long run. This is a clear example of the learning process introduced in the Adaptive Expectations hypothesis, firstly formulated (though not under its widely known name) by Irving Fisher in his article “The Purchasing Power of Money”, 1911, and popularized by Phillip Cagan in 1956 and by Friedman, in his paper “The Role of Monetary Policy”, 1968, where he also introduced the concept of natural rate of unemployment, which is the rate that the economy will reach after each movement along the Phillips curve. It must be highlighted that, contrary to New Classical Macroeconomics studies and its Rational expectations hypothesis, monetarists believe that the trade off can be systematically exploited in the short run, as long as each policy is unanticipated.
Given the low effectiveness of fiscal policy as well as the risks of high inflation caused by systematic monetary policies, monetarists defend a commitment by the monetary authorities to steady monetary growth, and reject discretionary and politically driven monetary policies, because of the uncertainty they create.
Name :Uche Miracle Chiamaka
Department: Economics
Reg No: 2019/241948
MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. It is also a fundamental theory that emphasizes on money supply as a key economic force. An increase in money supply, leads to an increase in aggregate demand and vice versa. Believers of this theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Clark Warburton in 1945 initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II. However, Friedman Milton popularized the theory of monetarism in 1967 address to the American Economic Assosciate. He is the founding father of monetarism. In his 1967 address, he said that in order to reduce inflation there should be an increase in higher interest rates. This will reduce the money supply.Friedman wrote a book on monetarism titled “Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960” which was co-authored by Anna Schwartz. In his book, he proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule. This rule suggest that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage year. This will enable businesses to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly. The economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be at low levels.
Monetarist believers of the monetarism theory believe that an increase in money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and creation of jobs. During the long run, an increase in money supply will lead to increase in inflation. Demand becomes more than supply thereby leading to an increase in price. Changes in money supply affects employment and production level. The monetarist asserts that those effects are temporary, while the effect on inflation is long lasting and significant.
Monetarist believe that the central banks are more powerful than the government because the control money supply in the economy. These central banks monitor real interest rates rather than nominal interest rates. However, most published rates are real interest rates which gives us better understanding of the economy. Real interest rates remove the effects of inflation in an economy.
The monetarist are not believers of the Keynesian theory. They are against the Keynesian theory. The monetarist believe monetary policy- expansionary or contractionary monetary policy is a more effective tool than fiscal policy ( government spending and taxation) for stimulating the economy or slowing down inflation but the Keynesian theory believe in the fiscal policy for controlling monetary supply. Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory. Monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention
Increase in spending by individuals adds to money supply but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s foreign debt that could increase interest rates.
Milton warned against increasing the money supply so fast because it will lead to inflation. But a gradual increase prevents higher unemployment rates. Monetarist theory is an essential guide for central bank policies. However, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States of America. He blamed them for the Great Depression of the 1930s, arguing that the Fed(Federal Reserve) tightened the money supply at the very moment it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should be loosened. They raised interest rates to defend the value of dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply wasn’t steady and loans became harder to get. The recession worsened into Depreciation. If the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it will theoretically create a Goldilocks economy. A Goldilocks economy where there is low unemployment and acceptable level of inflation. In order for central banks to achieve the best monetary policy, they have to peg the money supply growth to match the rate of growth of real GDP. Friedman believes that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Money supply works this way in an economy. An increase in money supply, lowers interest rates. A decrease in money supply raises the interest rates, making loans more expensive thereby slowing down the economy. In the United States of America, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal Funds rate(the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks). Other banks uses this targeted rate to charge each other for overnight loans and this affects interest rates. Central banks also use monetary tools such as open market operation, buying and selling government securities to reach the targeted Federal funds rate.
Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity in the past. Money supply does not include other assets like stocks, commodities, and home equity. People invest their money in the stock market as they save because they will receive better return. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created an economic boom that the Fed (Federal Reserve) ignored. Creation of a housing market bubble ( home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loan) also led to the Great Economic Recession. In 1979, Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Volcker as chief of the Federal Reserve, who in turn utilized the monetarist perspective to controlling inflation. There us an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the equation of exchange also called the quantity theory of money
MV=PQ where
M=money supply
V=velocity of money
P= average price level.
Q=quantity of goods and services produced.
The Austrian School of Economic Thought perceives monetarism as somewhat narrow-minded, not taking into account the subjectivity involved in valuing capita.
Other criticisms revolve around international investment, trade liberalization, and central bank policy. This can be summarized as the effects of globalization, and the interdependence of markets (and consequently currencies). To manipulate money supply there will inherently be effects on other currencies as a result of relativity. This is particularly important in regards to the U.S. currency, which is considered a standard in international markets. Controlling supply and altering value may have effects on a variety of internal economic variables, but it will also have unintended consequences on external variables.
References
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-economics/chapter/major-theories-in-macroeconomics/
https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Monetarism.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
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THE MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits, and credit is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance its growth or contraction can be regulated by changes in the money supply. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
Famous monetarists include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and Margaret Thatcher.
At its core, monetarism is an economic formula. It states that money supply multiplied by its velocity (the rate at which money changes hands in an economy) is equal to nominal expenditures in the economy (goods and services) multiplied by price. While this makes sense, monetarists say velocity is generally stable, which has been debated since the 1980s.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M x V= P x Q
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Characteristics of Monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
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SCOPE OF MONETARISM
Monetarism , school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total
amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief
determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton
Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other
monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during
the 1970s and early ’80s Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ . Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
VIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE MONETARIST
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation;
that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V , one can expect an
increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an
increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines
production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however,
become manifest only after a significant period of time. One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867– 1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with MAnna J. Schwartz , presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a
simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent). Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate Mthe money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity ( V ). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARIST SYSTEM
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and
services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is
increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the
production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment . When there
is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference.
The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low
inflation ), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP)
growth.
Controlling Money Supply In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers: The reserve ratio : The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money. The discount rate : The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers. Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
EXAMPLE OF MONETARIST THEORY
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates , decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate- cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
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2019/251206
Economics
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. … When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle.Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
ncreasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
Monetarism can also be defined as a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism school of economic thought maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage or increase aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Milton Friedman was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.[3]
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve,[4] Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Friedman also proposed a theory called the K-Percent Rule, which states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year.
Quantity theory of money
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
References
Investopedia
Encyclopedia Britannica
Wikipedia
http://WWW.thebalance.com
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THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
Introduction
Monetarism focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and the role of central banking on an economic system. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.
History
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.the rise of monetarism as an ideology, two specific economists were critical contributors. Clark Warburton, in 1945, has been identified as the first thinker to draft an empirically sound argument in favor of monetarism. This was taken more mainstream by Milton Friedman in 1956 in a restatement of the quantity theory of money. The basic premise these two economists were putting forward is that the supply of money and the role of central banking play a critical role in macroeconomics.
The generation of this theory takes into account a combination of Keynesian monetary perspectives and Friedman’s pursuit of price stability. Keynes postulated a demand-driven model for currency; a perspective on printed money that was not beholden to the ‘ gold standard ‘ (or basing economic value off of rare metal). Instead, the amount of money in a given environment should be determined by monetary rules. Friedman originally put forward the idea of a ‘k-percent rule,’ which weighed a variety of economic indicators to determine the appropriate money supply.
Macroeconomic effect of money supply
Theoretically, the idea is actually quite straight-forward. When the money supply is expanded, individuals will be induced to higher spending. In turn, when the money supply retracted, individuals would limit their budgetary spending accordingly. This would theoretically provide some control over aggregate demand.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
The role of central banking on the economic system
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Conclusion
From my research money supply is the major aspect of the monetary system it’s effect on the economy whether it decreases or increases. If it increases it brings about economic growth. The government can also contribute to increasing the money supply by buying bonds from individuals and firms, and treasury bills from banks to pump money into the economy. They also regulate monetary policies like the minimum cash reserve ratio etc.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Reference
Kimberly Amadeo and Thomas J. Catalano, Monetarism Explained. May 9th 2021
https://www.the balance.com
https://en.m.wikipedia.org
https://www.investopedia.com
Aniebonam Juliana Nneamaka
2019/244559
Economics education
Title: Understanding monetarism and monetarist system.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. It is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the determinant of economic growth.
For the monetarist, the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth, as the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduce the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy is an economic tool used in monetarism, it is implemented to adjust interest rates that in turn control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, there by reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases which means that people can borrow more and spend more, there by stimulating the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman who argued based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
The quantity theory of money.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics, the quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that, the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money supply is spent per year equals the normal expenditures in the economy.
The formula is given as:MV=PQ.
Where:
M= money supply.
V= velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P= average price of a good or service.
Q= quantity of goods and services sold.
Monetarist believe that changes to M (money supply) are the drivers of the equation. In short a change in M directly affects and determine employment, inflation (P) and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarist, who instead believes that V is easily predictable.
History of monetarism.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970’s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the united states and the united kingdom.
After U.S inflation packed at 20% in1979, the Fed switched it’s operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory, during this period economists, government, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic. In the year that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested.
Monetarism ability to explain the U.S economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets. Although most modern economists rejects the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis. One of the most importance of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increase in the money supply.
Monetarist interpretation of past economic events are still relevant today, Ben Bernanke former Fed chairman cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, the link between the money supply and norminal GDP broke down, the quantity theory of money the back bone of monetarism was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970’s abandoned the approach.
The economist Milton Friedman once said that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. The evidence to back his claim was pretty clear, whenever countries experience very high inflation for a sustained period of time, those countries also experience a rapid increase in the rate of growth of their money supply. At the same time, increase in the money supply in those countries isn’t associated with sustained increase in output that we would have predicted with monetary policy.
Reference.
https:/www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism%20is20%20macroeconomic%20theoryprimary%20determinant%20of%20economic%20growth.
https://www.khanacademy.org/search
NAME: ONWUEGBUNA PRECIOUS ONYINYE
REG NO: 2019/245507
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing
government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
NAME:. NNA OZIOMA VINE
REG No:. 2019/247263
COURSE CODE:. ECO 204
COURSE TITLE:. MACROECONOMICS 11
DEPARTMENT:. ECONOMICS
EMAIL:. nnaozioma71@gmail.com
ASSIGNMENT: UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomics theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
DEFINITIONS OF MONETARISM SYSTEM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where: M=money supply.
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands).
P= average price of a good or service.
Q= quantity of goods and services sold.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q).
In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
MONETARIST vs. KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at “20% in 1979”. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates. In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation. That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today.
Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF MONETARISM
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
REFERENCE
The American Economic Review 66 (2), 163-170, 1976
NAME: ONWUEGBUNA PRECIOUS ONYINYE
REG NO: 2019/245507
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing
government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
NAME:EZE SYLVIA ONYINYECHI
REGISTRATION NUMBER:2019/242945
DEPARTMENT: COMBINE SOCIAL SCIENCES (ECO/PSY)
COURSE TITLE: MACRO ECONOMICS
DEFINITION OF MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF MONETARISM
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflationInflationInflation is an economic concept that refers to increases in the price level of goods over a set period of time. The rise in the price level signifies that the currency in a given economy loses purchasing power (i.e., less can be bought with the same amount of money)..Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflationDeflationDeflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Put another way, deflation is negative inflation. When it occurs, and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great DepressionThe Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
2019/244008
The term Monetary policy refers to what the federal reserve, the nation’s central bank, does to influence the amount of money and credit in the Nigerian economy. Money and credit affects interest rate and the performance of the economy (cost of credit).
Economies has shown the relationship between money supply and economic growth. The money supply directly influences economic growth and brings about stability. This means a reasonable increase in money supply will lead to economic growth.
The macroeconomic monetary policy is a standard tool, that the government uses to manipulate aggregate demand of goods and services. Per say, an increase in aggregate demand for goods and services will lead to increase in employment and reductions in involuntary unemployment which will result to higher productivity in the economy.
The federal government of Nigeria applies the monetary policy so, through the way of readjusting of interest rate, for example the federal government can decide to increase or decrease interest rate through the help of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This will influence this will influence individual marginal propensity to consume and the effect of the multiplier.
The multiplier is an invincible force which broadly refers to an economic factor that, when increased or changed, causes increases or changes in many other related economic variables. The term multiplier is usually used in reference to the relationship between government spending and total national income.
In a situation when federal government decides to increase interest rate, this will have a direct influence in the level of saving and the demand of money at hand. This means an increase rate will encourage saving and discourage money at hand vice versa.
Monetarism is highly associated with an economist called Milton Friedman who propounded the theory, of quantity theory of money. He suggested that the government should apply this theory by keeping the supply of money fairly steady, increasing it slightly to encourage natural economic growth.
Inflation is caused by excessive supply of money because a lot of money will be chasing fewer goods. Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the k percent rule. This rule gave the guide line that money supply should grow at an annual rate linked with a nominal gross domestic product GDP that express at a fixed percentage per year. The k percent rule will be adequate in helping analysing and planning of the economy for both the private and public sector.
Directly to monetarism is the quantity theory of money which adopted and inducted into the general Keynesian framework of mmacroeconomics. This theory can be expressed in equation which is money supplied x velocity of money which is also the rate of money change hand is equal to the average prices of goods and services x output which is quantity of goods and services. The equation was formulated by John Stewart given as:
MV=PQ
M = supply of money
V= velocity
P= average price of goods and services
Q= national iincome total quantity of goods size services pprovided
The equation is linked due to the change in supply of money either increase or decrease with lead to a change in the average of price of goods and services or national income.
All together monetary policy cannot be overemphasized but still remains important and the very important to the government uses in stabilizing the economy and brings about economic growth.
HISTORY OF THE MONETARIST THEORY
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. It is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Equations in monetarism
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
MV=PQ
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
REFERENCE
1. Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960.
2. ^ Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieve
3. Friedman, Milton (1970). “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis”. Journal of Political Economy.
4. Milton Friedman; Anna Schwartz (2008). The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 (New Edition).
NAME: DIKE JOHN CHUKWUDOZIE
REG NO: 2018/241837
Monetarism is a school of economic thought that holds that the money supply is the main determinant of economic activity. In other words, if the money supply is growing, the economy will grow, and if money-supply growth is accelerating, so will economic growth. Monetarism’s leading advocate is the economist Milton Friedman.
Central to monetarism is the equation MV = PQ. M is the money supply; V is velocity — the number of times per year the average dollar is spent; P is prices of goods and services; and Q is quantity of goods and services. The equation suggests that if V is constant and M is increasing, there must be an increase in either Q or P. Accordingly, monetary policymakers can control inflation by allowing the money supply (M) to grow no faster than the desired rate of economic growth (Q).
Economics education
2019/249884
As popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention. This theory focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking.
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
Reference
L.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.
L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
Name: ABASILIM CHISOM JUDITH
REG NO: 2019/249128
LEVEL: 200L
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
Monetarist theory,as popularized by Milton Friedman,asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. It is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes on the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It states that the supply of money of in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth.Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.this tool , is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
UGWU KAOSISOCHUKWU IMMACULETA
2019/241226
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
Monetarist school of thought is one of the mainstream macroeconomic thought. It believes that money supply is the primary determinant of economic growth. Those who hold this view we call monetarists or monetary economists. Monetarist system is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
This system is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to the supply shocks. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money. The most important ideas and policy implications are;
1. The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
2. The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
3. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
4. Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
The building block for monetarist theory states that
M × V = P × T
where M is the quantity of M1, V is velocity of M1, or the average number of times that the currency turns over in a given year on the purchase of final goods and services, P is the price level, and T is real output or total volume of goods transacted. where it implies that velocity is fixed in the short run. By making this simple assumption, we have transformed the equation of exchange into the Quantity Theory of Money.
In the income version, the equation changes to
M × W = P°× Y
Where W is income velocity of money, Y is the real national income or product and P° is the GNP deflator. Because monetarists believe that markets are stable and work well, they believe that the economy is always near or quickly approaching full employment. Even if the economy is not at full employment, the danger of GDP deviating substantially from its potential level is small. So in the long-run, the economy will be at YP.
In the long run, changes in the money supply only cause inflation. This conclusion explains Friedman’s famous quote “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Another implication is that the rate of growth of the money supply will equal the rate of growth of the price level (or inflation) in the long-run. If the money supply grows by five percent per year, the inflation rate will be about five percent per year. The apparent failure of low interest rates to revive the economy during the Great Depression, however, was taken as evidence that monetary policy is less potent than fiscal policy. The 1950s witnessed the development of new theories about the impact of monetary policy, with the dominant view being that policy is effective through its influence on both the cost and availability of credit. Still, even in the 1960s, the mainstream view was that monetary policy, though capable of having some impact, was less powerful than fiscal policy. Monetarists, by contrast, argued that changes in the quantity of money exert a powerful influence on economic activity. Friedman’s work during the 1950s helped establish the foundation for later studies of the link between monetary policy and the economy.
Conclusion
The core of the Quantity Theory is that, in the long run, inflation reflects excessive growth of the money stock relative to real output growth, the latter determined fundamentally by non-monetary forces such as population growth and productivity. Monetarists concluded that central bank attempts to manipulate interest rates had led to destabilizing fluctuations in money supply growth and, therefore, in economic activity. Hence, monetarists argued that monetary policymakers should minimize the variation of the growth rate of the money stock both in the shortrun and over time. Lags in assessing economic conditions and in the effects of policy actions on economic activity, they argued, made attempts at “fine tuning” a balance between inflation and unemployment futile. Instead, monetarists argued for a policy that maintained growth of the money stock at a low, fixed rate, irrespective of the business cycle.
Reference
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=Monetarism%20is%20a%20macroeconomic%20theory,primary%20determinant%20of%20economic%20growth. Monetarism By OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH Updated July 25, 2021.
http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/monetarism/notes.html Chapter Seventeen: Lecture Notes — Monetarism.
The Rise and Fall of a Policy Rule: Monetarism at the St. Louis Fed, 1968-1986 R. W. Hafer and David C. Wheelock.
NAME:Nwaigbo Nzubechukwu Victory
Reg No: 2019/247274
Dept: Economics
Course: Macroeconomics Theory II
Course code: Eco 204
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM
Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic theory which focuses on the macroeconomic effects of a nation’s money supply and its central banking institution. It focuses on the supply and demand for money as the primary means by which economic activity is regulated.
monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argued that excessive expansion of the money supply will inherently lead to price inflation, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability to maintain general economic health.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Monetarist Theory
Monetarist theory regards a nation’s economic growth as fostered by changes in its money supply. Therefore, any and all changes within a set economic system, such as a change in interest rates, are believed to be a direct result of changes in the money supply. Monetarist policy, which is enacted to regulate and promote growth within a nation’s economy, ultimately seeks to increase a nation’s domestic money supply moderately and steadily over time.
The popularity of monetarism in political circles increased as Keynesian economics seemed unable to explain or cure the seemingly contradictory problems of rising unemployment and price inflation which erupted after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system gold standard in 1972 and the oil crisis shocks of 1973. Though higher unemployment levels seemed to call for Keynesian inflationary policy, rising inflation levels seemed to call for Keynesian deflation. The result was a significant disillusionment with Keynesian demand management. In response, Democratic President Jimmy Carter appointed as Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker, a follower of the monetarist school. Volcker sought as a primary objective to reduce inflation, and consequently restricted the money supply to tame high levels of economic inflation. The result was the most severe recession of the post-war period, but also the accomplishment of the desired price stability.
Followers of the Monetarism school not only sought to explain contemporary problems but also interpret historical ones. Within A Monetary History Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz argued that the Great Depression of 1930 was caused by a massive contraction of the money supply and not by a dearth of investment as argued by Keynes. They also maintained that post-war inflation was caused by an over-expansion of the money supply. For many economists whose perceptions had been formed by Keynesian ideas, it seemed that the Keynesian-Monetarism debate was merely about whether fiscal or monetary policy was the more effective tool of demand management. By the mid-1970s, however, the debate had moved on to more profound matters, as monetarists presented a more fundamental challenge to Keynesian orthodoxy in seeking to revive the pre-Keynesian idea that the economy was of an inherently self-regulating nature.
The Great Depression
Monetarist theory has focused on the events of 1920s America and the economic crises of the Great Depression. Monetarists argued that there was no inflationary investment boom in the 1920s that later caused the Great Depression. This argument was in contrast to both Keynesians and economists of the Austrian School who argued the presence of significant asset inflation and unsustainable Gross National Product (GNP) growth during the 1920s. Instead, monetarist thinking centered on the contraction of the national money supply during the early 1930s, and argued that the Federal Reserve could have avoided the Great Depression by efforts to provide sufficient liquidity. In essence, Monetarists believe the economic crises of the early twentieth century erupted as a result of an insufficient supply of money. This argument is supported by macroeconomic data, such as price stability in the 1920s and the slow rise of the money supply that followed.
Based on the monetarist position that incorrect central bank policies are at the root of large swings in inflation and price instability, monetarists have argued that the primary motivation for excessive easing of central bank policies is to finance fiscal deficits by the central government. In this argument, monetarists conclude that a restraint of government spending is the most important single target to restrain excessive monetary growth.
University of Nigeria Nsukka
Faculty of Education
Department of social science
( Economics Education)
TOPIC:
Understanding monetarism and the monestarist system
By:
EZEOHA NNENNA MERCY
2019/249099
February 13, 2022
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
Quantity Theory of Money Definition
The quantity theory of money is a theory that variations in price relate to variations in the money supply. more
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
Equation of Exchange Definition
The equation of exchange is a model that shows the relationship between money supply, price level, and other elements of the economy.
What is monetarist?
Its emphasis on money’s importance gained sway in the 1970s
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession.
monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists.
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment.
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.
Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation.
But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed.
The monetarist interpretation of the Great Depression was not entirely forgotten. In a speech during a celebration of Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday in late 2002, then-Fed governor Ben S. Bernanke, who would become chairman four years later, said, “I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We [the Fed] did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.”
Fed Bernanke mentioned the work of Friedman and Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates and increase money supply to stimulate the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. Prominent monetarists (including Schwartz) argued that the Fed stimulus would lead to extremely high inflation. Instead, velocity dropped sharply and deflation is seen as a much more serious risk.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
REFERENCE
R. Taring and F . Wikinson, inflation and the money supply.
Inflation and growth palgrave MacMillan.
Rowan D. C (1983) monestarist macroeconomics
G. E. J . Dennis, monetary Economics
Anolue chinecherem Stephanie
2019/244424
anoluesteph2002@gmail.com
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible too.
Name: Uche Miracle Chiamaka
Department: Economics
Reg No: 2019/241948
Course Code: Eco 204
MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. It is also a fundamental theory that emphasizes on money supply as a key economic force. An increase in money supply, leads to an increase in aggregate demand and vice versa. Believers of this theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Clark Warburton in 1945 initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II. However, Friedman Milton popularized the theory of monetarism in 1967 address to the American Economic Assosciate. He is the founding father of monetarism. In his 1967 address, he said that in order to reduce inflation there should be an increase in higher interest rates. This will reduce the money supply.Friedman wrote a book on monetarism titled “Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960” which was co-authored by Anna Schwartz. In his book, he proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule. This rule suggest that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage year. This will enable businesses to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly. The economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be at low levels.
Monetarist believers of the monetarism theory believe that an increase in money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and creation of jobs. During the long run, an increase in money supply will lead to increase in inflation. Demand becomes more than supply thereby leading to an increase in price. Changes in money supply affects employment and production level. The monetarist asserts that those effects are temporary, while the effect on inflation is long lasting and significant.
Monetarist believe that the central banks are more powerful than the government because the control money supply in the economy. These central banks monitor real interest rates rather than nominal interest rates. However, most published rates are real interest rates which gives us better understanding of the economy. Real interest rates remove the effects of inflation in an economy.
The monetarist are not believers of the Keynesian theory. They are against the Keynesian theory. The monetarist believe monetary policy- expansionary or contractionary monetary policy is a more effective tool than fiscal policy ( government spending and taxation) for stimulating the economy or slowing down inflation but the Keynesian theory believe in the fiscal policy for controlling monetary supply. Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory. Monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention
Increase in spending by individuals adds to money supply but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s foreign debt that could increase interest rates.
Milton warned against increasing the money supply so fast because it will lead to inflation. But a gradual increase prevents higher unemployment rates. Monetarist theory is an essential guide for central bank policies. However, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States of America. He blamed them for the Great Depression of the 1930s, arguing that the Fed(Federal Reserve) tightened the money supply at the very moment it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should be loosened. They raised interest rates to defend the value of dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply wasn’t steady and loans became harder to get. The recession worsened into Depreciation. If the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it will theoretically create a Goldilocks economy. A Goldilocks economy where there is low unemployment and acceptable level of inflation. In order for central banks to achieve the best monetary policy, they have to peg the money supply growth to match the rate of growth of real GDP. Friedman believes that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Money supply works this way in an economy. An increase in money supply, lowers interest rates. A decrease in money supply raises the interest rates, making loans more expensive thereby slowing down the economy. In the United States of America, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal Funds rate(the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks). Other banks uses this targeted rate to charge each other for overnight loans and this affects interest rates. Central banks also use monetary tools such as open market operation, buying and selling government securities to reach the targeted Federal funds rate.
Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity in the past. Money supply does not include other assets like stocks, commodities, and home equity. People invest their money in the stock market as they save because they will receive better return. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created an economic boom that the Fed (Federal Reserve) ignored. Creation of a housing market bubble ( home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loan) also led to the Great Economic Recession. In 1979, Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Volcker as chief of the Federal Reserve, who in turn utilized the monetarist perspective to controlling inflation. There us an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the equation of exchange also called the quantity theory of money
MV=PQ where
M=money supply
V=velocity of money
P= average price level.
Q=quantity of goods and services produced.
The Austrian School of Economic Thought perceives monetarism as somewhat narrow-minded, not taking into account the subjectivity involved in valuing capita.
Other criticisms revolve around international investment, trade liberalization, and central bank policy. This can be summarized as the effects of globalization, and the interdependence of markets (and consequently currencies). To manipulate money supply there will inherently be effects on other currencies as a result of relativity. This is particularly important in regards to the U.S. currency, which is considered a standard in international markets. Controlling supply and altering value may have effects on a variety of internal economic variables, but it will also have unintended consequences on external variables.
References
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-economics/chapter/major-theories-in-macroeconomics/
https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Monetarism.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
Benedict Jennifer Chinagorom
2019/244229
Benedictjennifer2@gmail.com
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible too.
Name: Anyanwor Chinenye Frances
Registration Number: 2019/244259
Department: Economics
Monetarist System and their Tenets:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists also believe that, as their name suggests, the money supply is what regulates the economy. They see that managing money inventory directly impacts swelling and that by limiting money inventory, they may reduce future financing expenses. Monetarists believe that because the velocity of money is steady, raising the money supply will raise prices and real GDP in the near run.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Nsan Manasseh Osaminen
2019/249517
Economics
ECO 204
Date: 10-02-2022
“Monetarism” and their Tenets:
Monetarism is an economic view that attributes economic fluctuations to changes in the money supply. Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The theory is not nearly as confusing as it may first appear. The theory basically says that prices for goods and services, as well as the rate at which prices rise (called inflation), are based upon how much money is in the economy and how fast that supply of money is increasing. If the supply of money increases quickly enough, prices will increase as the supply of money outpaces the supply of goods and services provided in the economy. Why?
When people have excess money, they have two options: save or spend. If people decide to buy more stuff, they are competing with other people that are also trying to buy more stuff. Remember that the injection of more money in the economy does not mean that the quantity of goods and services has increased. Consequently, as consumers compete for the limited amount of goods and services available in an economy, the price of goods increases, leading to inflation.
The same thing will happen if you decide to save instead of buy. If you save your money, you’ll usually, like most people, park the money in a bank. The banks make money by loaning money. Since they have more money to lend out, they will do it. The people who borrow money go out and compete with other buyers, which of course increases the price of goods and services because the quantity of goods and services in the economy has not changed just because the money supply has increased.
When do rising prices stabilize? As prices increase, you need more money to purchase goods and services. Eventually, the money demanded by consumers to purchase stuff will equal the quantity of money supplied. This is called the equilibrium price, and it is where supply equals demand. In order to avoid inflation, monetarists argue that the rate of growth in the money supply must not exceed the growth rate of the economy in the long run.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: Long-run neutrality of money is defined here to imply a long-run independence of real variables from the money supply. It is a consensus view that money is unlikely to be neutral in the short run because the sources of non neutrality (e.g. sticky prices) are more effective in the short run.
2. Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on the National Output and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to align.
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to
increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name: Okeanyaego Victor Chidubem
Reg. No: 2019/244068
Department: Economics
Course Code: ECO 204
Date: February 12, 2022
Monetarist System and its Tenets.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought that posits that most economic fluctuations in the economy can be explained by the money supply. Monetarists also believe that government intervention in the economy should be minimal and is often counterproductive. Monetarism is a direct challenge to the Keynesian school of thought, which advocates aggressive fiscal intervention by a government to stimulate a declining economy, which itself was a challenge to the classical school of economics. Probably the most famous contemporary monetarist is economist Milton Friedman.
Monetarists believe that the supply of money is the most important factor that determines national income and growth. They base this proposition on the quantity theory of money. Harvard economist N. Gregory Mankiw explains that the quantity theory of money is ‘a theory asserting that the quantity of money available determines the price level and that the growth rate in the quantity of money available determines the inflation rate.’
Most economists agree with the principle of monetary neutrality, which states that in the long run, changes in the money supply influence nominal economic variables but not real economic variables. Nominal variables are variables that are measured in terms of money, while real variables are measured in physical units. For example, just because nominal gross domestic product, or GDP (a measure of national output), rose by a certain amount of money, doesn’t mean that the economy increased its output of goods and services – the increase in nominal GDP may been caused entirely by rising prices rather than more goods and services being produced. Monetarists, however, argue that increasing or decreasing the supply of money in the short run can have significant effects on output and employment.
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: Long-run neutrality of money is defined here to imply a long-run independence of real variables from the money supply. It is a consensus view that money is unlikely to be neutral in the short run because the sources of non neutrality (e.g. sticky prices) are more effective in the short run.
2. Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on the National Output and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to align.
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to
increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name: Otutu Chisom Judith
Reg number: 2019/242963
What Is Monetarism? – Back to Basics
Its emphasis on money’s importance gained sway in the 1970s
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist AnnaSchwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally movea stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy( government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt that could increase interest rate .
Milton Friedman is the father of Monetarism. He popularized the theory of Monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rate, which in turn reduces the money supply prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Monetarism is a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Key People: Margaret Thatcher
Related Topics: economics quantity theory of money money supply equation of exchange
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
Economic stabilizer: Monetary policy
Another point of view holds that the fiscal approach presented above is misleading because it ignores…
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However the money supply does not measure other assets such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return that means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands which boost the economy.
References:
1)Finance and development march 2014 volume 51
2)www.htpps//monetarist system. Goggle.com
Nebo Casmir Chukwuemeka
2019/244263
Economics
ECO 204
12/02/22
MONETARISM AND ITS TENETS.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern non monetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M * V = P * Q
Where;
● M is the money supply
● V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
● P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
● Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: Long-run neutrality of money is defined here to imply a long-run independence of real variables from the money supply. It is a consensus view that money is unlikely to be neutral in the short run because the sources of non neutrality (e.g. sticky prices) are more effective in the short run.
2. Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on the National Output and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to align.
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to
increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Ngana Thaddeus Ifeanyi
2019/246750
Economics – ECO 204
The Monetarist System and their Tenets.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists also believe that, as their name suggests, the money supply is what regulates the economy. They see that managing money inventory directly impacts swelling and that by limiting money inventory, they may reduce future financing expenses. Monetarists believe that because the velocity of money is steady, raising the money supply will raise prices and real GDP in the near run.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV = PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name: NWADIKE VIVIAN MMESOMA
Economics department
REG NO: 2019/244657
TOPIC: MONETARISM SYSTEM
What is monetarism?
According to the Oxford dictionary monetarism is the theory or branch of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilising the economy. Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of government in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is a macroeconomic theory which states that government can foster economics stability by targeting the growth rate of the money.
Monetarism system is a system by which a government provide money in a country’s economy. Modern monetary system usually consist of the national treasury, the mint of central banks and commercial Banks.
It is the set of mechanism used by a government to issue money in a particular economy. The process involves central banks and commercial Banks. In a monetary system there is a hierarchy of money which explains the monetary system.
Hierarchy of money.
We have money and credit. Money which means a means of settlement of debt. Credit means a delay of settlement of debt.
What happens if we start to include financial instrument in there, this shows a line between money and credit as it helps to explain the different types of monetary system.
There are different types of monetary system which are;
Commodity money system
Commodity-backed money system
Fiat money system.
Ultimately this different types of monetary system should be able to statisfy or carry out the functions of money, which are medium of exchange, portability, scarcity, store of value, unit of account.
Commodity money is very easy to understand because it is the simplest monetary system ever practiced. It is the use of commodity in exchange for another commodity, it is a basis physical asset, often used as raw material in production of goods. It should be interchangeable with another commodity of the same type.
Commodity backed money system, in commodity backed money vwe have representative money which is the bank notes, which is directly linked to the commodity because your note helps you to exchange it for any commodity e.g Gold.
Fiat money system, it is the hardest or slight complicated form of system in which the bank notes which can be exchange for Gold has no intrinsic value, it’s value is valid only if the government has declared it to be legal tender, i.e a medium of payment that must by law, be accepted as a valid method of paying financial obligations.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary supply.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation.
It would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression.8 As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
EZUGWU JOHNSON CHINECHEREM
REG: 2019/245390
DEPT: ECONOMICS(MAJOR)
EZUGWU JOHNSON CHINECHEREM
REG: 2019/245390
DEPT: ECONOMICS(MAJOR)
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
MONETARIST
Is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits, and creditis the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09. Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize– winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists. velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them). The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
At its most basic The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates. Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MONEY AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE CHANGED.
Nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach. Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed.
RELEVANT STILL
Still, the monetarist interpretation of the Great Depression was not entirely forgotten. In a speech during a celebration of Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday in late 2002, then-Fed governor Ben S. Bernanke, who would become chairman four years later, said, “ I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We [the Fed] did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” Fed Chairman Bernanke mentioned the work of Friedman and Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates and increase money supply to stimulate the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. Prominent monetarists (including Schwartz) argued that the Fed stimulus would lead to extremely high inflation. Instead, velocity dropped sharply and deflation is seen as a much more serious risk. Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern non monetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear . Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
NAME: Omeje Philomena oluchukwu
DEPT: Social science Education (Economics)
REG NO: 2019/243750
COURSE: ECO 204
DISCUSS MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association.
Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation . Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long lasting and significant.
MONETARISM: CORE BELIEFS
1. The primary cause of inflation is an excess supply of money: They believe that inflation is always a monetary phenomenon. The reason inflation exit is that there is too much money in supply
2. Contraction of the money supply can also be linked directly to Economic downturns: They also believe that if a nation, federal government, CBN contract money supply, it can cause Economic downturns, recessions.
3. Fluctuations in the quantity of money are the dominant cause of fluctuations in the price level, and it’s relationship to income: what cause this fluctuations as well as fluctuations in the relationship between the price labour and how much money one get is the fluctuations of money supply.
4. Manipulations of the money supply has a direct effect on the balance of payments and exchange rate.
6. Long-run monetary policy rules or at least pre stated “target” are required to foster long-run sustainable Economic growth.
QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange , formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
MV =PQ
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Criticisms of monetarism
1.The link between the money supply and inflation is often very weak in practice.
2. The velocity of circulation (V) is not stable but can vary significantly due to confidence, changes in the use of credit cards, decline in use of cash. e.t.c
3. Targeting arbitrary money supply targets can cause a severe recession and high unemployment. For example, UK targeted money supply growth in the early 1980s, but this caused the recession of 1981 with many economists arguing it was deeper than necessary.
Conclusion
Monetarism states that government can foster Economic stability by targeting the growth rate of money supply. It is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an Economy is the primary determinant of Economic growth.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.
Despite their strong view on money supply as the core determinant of price levels and inflation, they are critize base on their views. Monetarism focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and the role of central banking on an economic system.
Reference
Friedman, Milton(2008). Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960. Princeton University press.
Schwartz, Ann J, 1987. Money in Historical perspective, University of Chicago press
Friedman 1963. A monetary History of the United States. Princeton.
UGWUJA DIVINE UCHENNA
2019/244341
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
MONETARIST SYSTEM
it is the process by which a nation changes the supply of money. The country’s money supply increases and decreases with expansionary and contractionary monetary policy respectively. Among all the tools that can be used, it primarily relies on raising or lowering the federal funds rate.
Note: when interest rates are high, the money supply contracts, the economy cools down and inflation is usually prevented. When interest rates are low, the money supply expands, the economy heats up and recession is usually avoided.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV=PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S the federal reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist operates on a monetarist policy that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation),promoting full employment and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
CONTROLLING MONEY SUPPLY
It is the job of the fed to control the money supply. The fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: It consists of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
At its most basic
The foundation of monetarism is the quantity theory of money. The theory is an accounting identity- that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditure in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and the inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
Long-run monetary neutrality: an increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
Short-run monetary non neutrality: an increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance)
constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
Interest rate flexibility: the money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
t is believed that monetary policy works faster than fiscal policy. The federal votes to raise or lower rates at its regular federal open market committee meetings. Which usually takes up to six months for the impact of the rate cut or raise to circulate round the economy.
Law makers and government authorities are advised coordinate fiscal policy in with monetary policy. They usually do not because fiscal policy being reflection of individual law makers, their main focus is often the needs of the constituencies rather than that of the economy, putting local needs ahead. Therefore, fiscal policy counters what the economy needs, forcing the central banks to offset poorly planned fiscal policy.
Types of monetary policy
Much like the fiscal policy, the monetary policy is of two types:
Expansionary monetary policy and
Contractionary monetary policy.
Expansionary monetary policy: this is when a central bank uses its tools to stimulate the economy. It does this by increasing the money supply, lowers interest rates and increases aggregate demand. It boosts growth as measured by the gross domestic product. It lowers the value of currency thereby decreasing the exchange rate. It deters the contractionary phase of the business cycle; it is difficult for policy makers to catch this in time, therefore we see expansionary monetary policy being used after a recession
How expansionary monetary policy works
To understand how it works, we will take a look at the central bank. Most often the government uses open market operations. This is when it buys treasury notes from its member’s banks. Questions about where the source of income comes from are answered as such; they come from nothing…the central bank under the governments orders is able to print new money with which they use to pay for all expenses and costs of any expenditure they make.
By replacing the bank’s treasury notes with credit, the government gives them more money to lend out. In order to lend out the excess cash, banks reduce their lending rates, making loans for autos, schools, firms and schools less expensive. The banks will also reduce their credit card rates also bosting aggregate demand and thus spending which in turn increases the gross domestic product.
Contractionary monetary policy: this much like the contractionary fiscal policy is the opposite of its expansionary counterpart. It’s not used very often as it involves reducing/ stopping economic growth which no country is looking to do. However, this type of monetary policy helps in a few ways. In times of inflation where too much money is chasing few available goods, the contractionary monetary policy helps to draw out some of the excess money in the economy by increasing its interest rates making it more expensive to borrow money, therefore, reducing consumer expenditure and reducing the amount of money in circulation.
How monetary policy…
Stimulate growth: anything that is increases the productivity and spending if an economy is considered to have achieved economic growth. Monetary policy does this by reducing interest rates in order to the stimulate consumer expenditure. As consumer expenditure increases it means that the aggregate demands for goods and services have increased. With high demand for goods and/or services, production companies and firms will be obliged to produce more of their goods and services therefore; they will require more hands to be able to meet up with the demand thus encouraging companies to hire more workers and therefore stimulating/increasing employment.
Controls inflation: monetary policy controls inflation through its contractionary method. When interest rates are high, the money supply contracts and the economy cools down and inflation is usually prevented here it increases interest rates and reduces aggregate demand by decreasing the purchasing power of the consumers in the economy. With people spending way less than before the economy slowly loses its money supply helping to reduce the money that’s circulating in the economy and therefore controlling inflation.
Stimulate employment: when the central banks increase the money supply in the economy, it starts a chain effect. By increasing money supply, the aggregate demand increases and also compels the productivity of the companies to in increase however, when in this situation, the aggregate demand is more than the amount of goods and services that can be produced with the amount of labor at that time, it causes an increase in the demand for labor thus stimulating employment.
Correct balance of payment disequilibrium: increase or decrease in the interest rate of banks help to correct balance of payment disequilibrium. An increase in interest rate will reduce the supply of money in the economy thereby reducing the importation of foreign goods and hence correcting a deficit in the balance of payment disequilibrium. The opposite method may be imposed to correct a surplus in the balance of payment disequilibrium.
NAME: MBAH JULIET EZINNE
REG NO: 2019/241713
DEPT: EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC
COURSE: MACROECONOMICS ( 204)
TOPIC: DISCUSS MONETARIST MACROECONOMICS SYSTEM
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of money. Monetarists are certain the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.tary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates
Monetarist Theory of Inflation
Monetarists argue that if the Money Supply rises faster than the rate of growth of national income, then there will be inflation.If the money supply increases in line with real output then there will be no inflation.
Quantity Theory of Money
Fischer Version MV=PT,
M = Money Supply
V= Velocity of circulation
P= Price Level and
T = Transactions.
T is difficult to measure so it is often substituted for Y = National Income
MV = PY where Y =national output
The above equation must hold the value of expenditure on goods and services must equal the value of output.
Explanation of why money supply leads to inflation
Monetarists believe that in the short-term velocity (V) is fixed This is because the rate at which money circulates is determined by institutional factors, e.g. how often workers are paid does not change very much. Milton Friedman admitted it might vary a little but not very much so it can be treated as fixed
Monetarists also believe output Y is fixed. They state it may vary in the short run but not in the long run (because LRAS is inelastic and determined by supply-side factors.) Therefore an increase in the Money Supply will lead to an increase in inflation
Reference
G. E. J. Dennis, Monetary Economics (Longman, 1981) chs 5, 6.
R. Tarling and F. Wilkinson, ‘Inflation and the Money Supply’, Cambridge Economic Policy Review, no. 3 (1977).
Rowan D.C. (1983) Monetarist Macroeconomics. In: Output, Inflation and Growth. Palgrave Macmillan, London
NAME: EZURUEME OGECHI
REG NO: 2019/251620
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
COURSE: ECO 204
QUESTION: CLEARLY DISCUSS AND ANALYZE THE MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS.
ANSWER
Monetarist school of thought is one of the mainstream macroeconomic thought. It believes that money supply is the primary determinant of economic growth. Those who hold this view we call monetarists or monetary economists. Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation (the general rising of prices, which causes money to lose value) and unemployment (the percentage of people who want to work but cannot find jobs) could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory. Other proponents of the theory include Alan Walters, Allan Meltzer, Anna Schwartz, David Laidler, Karl Brunner, and Michael Parkin, etc
The theoretical foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. This theory tries to link the amount of money circulating in the economy with nominal GDP.
TENETS OF MONETARY SYSTEM
1. QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY: Friedman tried to find out why people choose to hold money instead of analyzing the specific motives for holding money as Keynes did. Friedman simply stated that the demand for money must be influenced by the same factors that influence the demand for any other assets he then applied theory of asset demand to money. According to him, the demand for money should be a function of the resources available to individuals (their wealth) and the expected returns on other assets related to the expected return on money. Like Keynes, Friedman recognize that people want to hold money for a certain amount of real money balances (the quantity of money in real terms).
2. GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION: Monetarists believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy while allowing the rest of the market to fix itself. In contrast, Keynesian economists believe that a troubled economy continues in a downward spiral unless an intervention drives consumers to buy more goods and services. Monetarist believes government actions are prone to mistakes and causes more problems than it solves. They suggest that focus of government should be on maintaining fundamental things right, e.g. property rights, law and order, transparency, etc. Thus they view government intervention in the as unnecessary
3. INFLATION: Milton Friedman stated that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that, it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output. Monetarists are certain the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation. Thus, central banks should not target or adjust interest rates to stabilize economy; they should ignore the cycle and make sure only that the total money supply is adequate.
In the quantity theory of money where MV=PY, Monetarists believe that in the short-term velocity (V) is fixed. This is because the rate at which money circulates is determined by institutional factors, e.g. how often workers are paid does not change very much. Milton Friedman admitted it might vary a little but not very much so it can be treated as fixed. Monetarists also believe output Y is fixed. They state it may vary in the short run but not in the long run (because LRAS is inelastic and determined by supply-side factors.). Therefore an increase in the Money Supply will lead to an increase in inflation. However critics question this with statement such as “Why not target inflation directly? If you want to control inflation, it makes more sense to target inflation directly rather than through the intermediary of the money supply”.
4. FISCAL POLICY: Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
5. UNEMPLOYMENT: Monetarists believe that prices and money wages are flexible and can adjust quickly, meaning that the real wage is at the right level to achieve long run equilibrium in the labour market. All unemployment is classified by a monetarist as ‘voluntary’. Keynesians contrastingly believe that money wages are slow to adjust to changes in the economy and so the real wage may not adjust to clear the labour market. This means there can be voluntary as well as involuntary unemployment. The problem with unemployment according to Keynesians is that the ‘short run’ can actually be quite a long time which is why government intervention is advised.
In summary, the monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation. Monetarists are also opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis.
REFERENCES
1.https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=Monetarism%20is%20an%20economic%20school,primary%20driver%20of%20economic%20growth.&text=An%20increase%20in%20aggregate%20demand,unemployment%20and%20stimulates%20economic%20growth.
2.https://penpoin-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/penpoin.com/monetarist-school-of-thought/?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16446652748044&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fpenpoin.com%2Fmonetarist-school-of-thought%2F
3. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Monetarism.html
4. Taylor, J.B. (2001). An Interview with Milton Friedman. Macroeconomic Dynamics, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 101–131.
5. McCallum, B.T. (1989). Monetary Economics — Theory and Policy. Macmillan Publishing Company, New York.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Monetarism has recently gone out of Favour. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Federal Reserve ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In conclusion, monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes:
1.long-run monetary neutrality, 2.short-run monetary non-neutrality,
3.the distinction between real and nominal interest rates , and
4.the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis.
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MONETARIST MACRO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Who Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits, and credits is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. the economy’s performance, its growth or contraction can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate. Monetarists are economists and policymakers who subscribe to the theory of monetarism. Famous monetarists include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and Margaret Thatcher.
MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and vice versa. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
MONETARISM
What is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.¬
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by non-monetarist economists.
At its most basics
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.¬
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).¬
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.¬
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.¬ Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
THE GREAT DEBATE
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.¬
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
In 1979, Paul A. Volcker became chairman of the Fed and made fighting inflation its primary objective. The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.¬ Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983 but monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with upmost economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed. predictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
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We have different school of thoughts in economics. They are; classical, neo-classical, Keynesian and Monetarist. But today, we are going to be focusing on the Monetarist school of thought that was propounded by Milton Friedman. Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. It emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Moreover, it is a macro-economic school of thought that emphasizes long-run monetary neutrality, short-run monetary non-neutrality, the distinction between real and nominal INTEREST RATES, and the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the MONEY SUPPLY. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of long-run neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur. The original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run PHILLIPS CURVE is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions. This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.[5] While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Within mainstream economics, the rise of monetarism accelerated from Milton Friedman’s 1956 restatement of the quantity theory of money. Friedman argued that the demand for money could be described as depending on a small number of economic variables.
Thus, where the money supply expanded, people would not simply wish to hold the extra money in idle money balances; i.e., if they were in equilibrium before the increase, they were already holding money balances to suit their requirements, and thus after the increase they would have money balances surplus to their requirements. These excess money balances would therefore be spent and hence aggregate demand would rise. Similarly, if the money supply were reduced people would want to replenish their holdings of money by reducing their spending. In this, Friedman challenged a simplification attributed to Keynes suggesting that “money does not matter.” Thus the word ‘monetarist’ was coined.
The rise of the popularity of monetarism also picked up in political circles when Keynesian economics seemed unable to explain or cure the seemingly contradictory problems of rising unemployment and inflation in response to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1972 and the oil shocks of 1973. On the one hand, higher unemployment seemed to call for Keynesian reflation, but on the other hand rising inflation seemed to call for Keynesian disinflation. The social-democratic post-war consensus that had prevailed in first world countries was thus called into question by the rising neoliberal political forces. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
During the 1970s, inflation rose in the United States, as well as in many other industrial nations, to levels unprecedented on a multiyear basis during periods of relative peace. This occurred as a consequence of various “shocks”—oil price increases, the Vietnam War, and especially the 1971–1973 demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates (itself caused largely by the failure of the United States to maintain the gold value of the dollar). This demise left central bankers with a major new responsibility; namely, to provide a nominal anchor for national fiat currencies to replace the GOLD STANDARD. The Federal Reserve announced several times during the 1970s that it intended to bring inflation under control, but various attempts were unsuccessful. Then, on October 6, 1979, the Fed, under Paul Volcker’s chairmanship, announced and put into effect a new attempt involving drastically revised operating procedures that had some prominent features in common with monetarist recommendations. In particular, the Fed would try to hit specified monthly targets for the growth rate of M1, with operating procedures that emphasized control over a narrow and controllable monetary aggregate, nonborrowed reserves (i.e., bank reserves minus borrowings from the Fed). The M1 targets were intended to bring inflation down from double-digit levels to unspecified but much lower values.
In retrospect, the events that occurred from October 1979 to September 1982 are widely viewed as the crucial beginning of a necessary and successful attack on inflation that led, eventually, to the worldwide low-inflation environment of the 1990s. At the time, however, the “experiment” seemed anything but successful to many Americans. Short-term interest rates jumped dramatically in late 1979 under the tightened conditions, and 1980 witnessed a major fall in output in one quarter followed by a major jump in the next, due primarily to the imposition, and then removal, of credit controls. Finally, in 1981 and into the middle of 1982, a sustained period of monetary stringency brought about the deepest recession since the GREAT DEPRESSION of the 1930s and began to bring inflation down, more rapidly than many economists anticipated, toward acceptable values. What is left today of monetarism? While some disagreement remains, certain things are clear. Interestingly, most of the changes to Keynesian thinking that early monetarists proposed are accepted today as part of standard macro/monetary analysis. After all, the main proposed changes were to distinguish carefully between real and nominal variables, to distinguish between real and nominal interest rates, and to deny the existence of a long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Also, most research economists today accept, at least tacitly, the proposition that monetary policy is more potent and useful than FISCAL POLICY for stabilizing the economy. There is some academic support, and a bit in central bank circles, for the real-business-cycle suggestion that monetary policy has no important effect on real variables, but this idea probably has marginal significance. It is hard to believe that the major recession of 1981–1983 in the United States was not caused largely by the Fed’s deliberate tightening of 1981—a tightening that shows up in ex-post real interest rates and in M1B growth rates as adjusted by the Fed at the time (Table 1, column 6) to take account of major institutional changes.
In 2005, most academic specialists in monetary economics would probably describe their orientation as NEW KEYNESIAN. Also, monetary aggregates currently play a small or nonexistent role in the monetary policy analysis of academic and central-bank economists. In terms of its underlying scientific rationale, however, today’s mainstream analysis is much closer to that of the monetarist than the Keynesian position of, for example, 1956–1978. In addition to the points noted above, current thinking clearly favors policy rules in contrast to “discretion,” however defined, and stresses the central importance of maintaining inflation at quite low rates. It is only in its emphasis on monetary aggregates that monetarism is not being widely espoused and practiced today.
REFERENCES:
1. Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed., Monetarism. New York: American Elsevier, 1976.
2. Friedman, Milton. A Program for Monetary Stability. New York: Fordham University Press, 1959.
3. Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic Review 58 (March 1968): 1–17.
Monetarism in macro economics
Monetarism is a macro economic theory which states that govtment can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money in supply. Essentially it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation .Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influence on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarist assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman .who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy that is government spending.
Friedman and Anna Schwartz
They both wrote an influential book ,A monetareconomics of the united states ,1867-1960 and argued “Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon. Though he opposed the existence of the federal reserve ,Friedman advocated given its existence a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady ,expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money which states that the money supply (m) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures in the economy .monetarism as a branch of Keynesian economics emphasizes on the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demands contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarist purported in the past ,some coretenets of the theory have become a marristay in Nonmonetarist analysis. Monetary policy is an economic tool used in monetarism ,implemented to adjust interest rates that in turn control the money supply. when interest rate are increased people have more of an incentive to save than to spend ,thereby reducing or contracting the money supply contrarily,when interest rate are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme ,the cost of borrowing decreases ,which means people can borrow more and spend more ,thereby stimulating the economy .
Milton Friedman and monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman who argued based on the quantity theory of money that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy, Due to the natural inflationary effect s that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply.Friedman who formulated the theory of monetarism asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth .The policies of Monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the united states and the united kingdom .After U.S inflation peaked at the 20% in 1979.The fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory.During this time period,Economists government’s and investor’s eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistics.
Monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary .contractionary monetary policy is when the fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply .it works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short term interest rates .However Monetarism fell out of favor with many economists ,as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested .In addition monetarisms ability to explain the U.S economy waned in the following decades .many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets. Monetarist interpretation of past economic events are still relevant today.
MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM.
Monetarist is a macroeconomics theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money is an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money I the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth
It can also be defined as emphasis on the role of governments in controlling the amounts in circulation. Those who this view we call monetarist or monetary economists.
Monetarist believe monetary policy is more effective in influencing economic activity. money has a significant role to play in the modern economy. Money is not only as a means of payment, but it also becomes a commodity to be transacted.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short term interest rates.
Milton Friedman is the father of monetarism, he popularized the theory in his 1967 address to the America economic association. He argued based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY
The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by john Stuart mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as: MV = PQ
Where;
M = money supply
V = velocity (rate at which money changes hand)
P = average price of a good or service
Q = quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarist believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employments, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held constant, but consumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarist, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). if V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant, according to monetarist, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
CHARACTERISTIC OF MONETARISM.
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions.
The theoretical foundation is the quantity theory of money
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissesz faire is often the best advice.
The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
Fiscal policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
CRITICISMS OF MONETARISM
The link between the money supply and inflation is often very weak in practice.
The velocity of circulation (V) is not stable but can vary significantly due to confidence, changes in the use of credit cards, decline in use of cash. etc.
Targeting arbitrary money supply targets can cause a severe recession and high unemployment. For example, UK targeted money supply growth in the early 1980s, but this caused the recession of 1981 with many economists arguing it was deeper than necessary.
The large increase in the monetary base following the 2009 recession did not cause any inflationary pressures.
Why not target inflation directly? If you want to control inflation, it makes more sense to target inflation directly rather than through the intermediary of the money supply.
Monetarists say that income can vary in the short run, but the short run could be a long time and therefore make monetary policy ineffective, Keynesians argue that the LRAS is not necessarily inelastic they argue that the economy can be below full capacity for a long time.
ADVANTAGES OF MONETARY POLICY
1. Expansionary monetary policy makes it possible for more investments come in and consumers spend more.
2. Lowered interest rates also lower mortgage payment rates.
3. It allows the Central Bank to apply quantitative easing.
4. It promotes predictability and transparency.
DISADVANTAGES OF MONETARY POLICY
1. Despite expansionary monetary policy, there is still no guaranteed economy recovery.
2. Cutting interest rates is not a guarantee.
3. It will not be useful during global recession.
4. Contractionary monetary policy can discourage businesses from expansion.
Name: Ikwuagwu Lucy Ogechi
Reg. No: 2019/245407
Email: lucyikwuagwu@gmail.com
Monetarist Theory
What It Means:
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
Just how important is money?
Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Milton Friedman, argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. But monetarism faded in the following decades as its ability to explain the U.S. economy seemed to wane. Nevertheless, some of the insights monetarists brought to economic analysis have been adopted by nonmonetarist economists.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output (see “What Is the Output Gap?” in the September 2013 F&D).
The great debate
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
In 1979, Paul A. Volcker became chairman of the Fed and made fighting inflation its primary objective. The Fed restricted the money supply (in accordance with the Friedman rule) to tame inflation and succeeded. Inflation subsided dramatically, although at the cost of a big recession.
Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983.
But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed.
Still, the monetarist interpretation of the Great Depression was not entirely forgotten. In a speech during a celebration of Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday in late 2002, then-Fed governor Ben S. Bernanke, who would become chairman four years later, said, “I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We [the Fed] did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” Fed Chairman Bernanke mentioned the work of Friedman and Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates and increase money supply to stimulate the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States. Prominent monetarists (including Schwartz) argued that the Fed stimulus would lead to extremely high inflation. Instead, velocity dropped sharply and deflation is seen as a much more serious risk.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
References:
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm#:~:text=Monetarism%20gained%20prominence%20in%20the,Prize%E2%80%93winning%20economist%20Milton%20Friedman.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
Monetarism is a macro-economic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an Economy is the primary determinant of Economic growth.
Key Notes of Monatarist Macroeconomic system
1) monatarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply
2)central to monetarism is the quantity theory of Money which states that the money supply (M) Multiplied by the rate at which Money is spent per uear (V) Equals the nominal Expenditures (p*Q) in the Economy
3)Monetarism is closely associated with Economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady ,expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the Economy
4)Monetarism os a branch of keynesian Economic that Emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, Contrary to most keynesian.
Although most moderm Economist reject the Emphasis on money growth that monetarist purported in the past,some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in analysis.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetaris is an Economic School of thought Which states that the supply of money in an Economy is the primary driver of Economic growth. As the Availability of money in the system increases,aggregate demand for goods and services goes up.An increase in aggregate demand Encourages nob Creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates Economic growth.
Monetary Policy as an Economy Tool
Monetarism is implemented to adjust interests rates that inturn control the money supply.When interests rate are increased, people have more of an incentives to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily When interests rates are lowered following an Expansionary monetary scheme,the cost of borrowing decreases,which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the Economy.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the Equation in short a change in M directly affects and determines employment inflation (P) and production (Q), in the original version of the quantity theory of Money, V is held to be constant,but this assumption Was dropped by (john maynard Keynes).
Proponents of Monetarism generally believe that Controlling an Economy through policy is a poor decision because.it necessarily introduces microEconomics distortions that reduce Economic Efficiency They Profer Monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a micro Economic Stand Point and that avoids the deadweight losses and social Costs that Fiscal policy Creates in Markets
Important notes: in general,monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or Expansionary.
Contractionary Monetary policy is When the federal government reduces inflation by raising the funds rate or decreasing the money supply.
Expansionary monetary policy works by Expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering shortterm interest rate
In Friedman Seminal Work,A monetary History of the United States,1867-1960.Which he wrote With fellow Economist Anna Schwartz,the two Economist argued that failed monetary policy Executed by the federal reserve Was responsible for the Great depression in the U.S in the 1930s in the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Federal reserve failed to lelieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventaul actions to reduce the money supply Were the Opposite of what they should have done.According to Friedman and Schwartz,market tend towards a stable center, Markets will behave erractically if the money supply is not properly set.
.
Name: Nwokolo David Okechukwu
Registration number: 2018/244291
Department: Economics
Date: 12-02-22
Macroeconomic Theory II: The Monetarist System and their Tenets.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern non monetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
How It Works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
THE TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Introduction
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970sbringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdomand greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 200709. Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prizewinning economist Milton Friedman.
Meaning of monetary economic system:
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that believes that changes in money supply are the major significant determinants of the economic growth rate and the how business cycle behaves. It can also be seen as a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activities or that money supply is the key driver of economic activities. The practical aspect of monetarist theory is majorly seen in central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, and can exert much power over economic growth rates. In many developing economy as Nigeria, monetary theory is controlled by the central government which may also be conducting most if the monetary policy decisions. The Central Government operates on a monetary theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady growth in gross domestic product (GDP). The idea is that markets function best when the economy follows a smooth course, with stable prices and adequate access to capital for corporations and individuals.
According to monetarist theory, if there is an increase in a nation’s supply of money, it brings about an increase in economic activityand vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Some tenets that monetary system holds tenaciously
Reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
Discount rate: The interest rates the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage banks to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations (OMO): OMO consists of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money while selling securities contracts money supply in the economy
Criticisms of Monetary Theory
Not everyone agrees that boosting the amount of money in circulation is wise. Some economists warn that such behavior can lead to a lack of discipline and, if not managed properly, cause inflation to spike, destroying gradually the value of savings, triggering uncertainty, and discouraging firms from investing, among other things. The premise that taxation can fix these problems has also come under fire. Taking more money from paychecks is a deeply unpopular policy, particularly when prices are rising, meaning that many politicians are hesitant to pursue such measures. Critics also point out that higher taxation will end up triggering a further increase in unemployment, destroying the economy even more.
Japan is often cited as an example. The country has run fiscal deficits for decades now, with mixed results. Critics regularly point out that continual deficit spending there has forced more people out of work and done little boost GDP growth.
References.
Andersen Leonall C. Federal Reserve Defensive’.
Operations and Short-Run Control of the Money Stock.
Journal of Political Economy, March-April 1968. P275-88.
Will Kenton (2021). monetarist theory.
Daniel liberto (2021). Monetary theory.
https//:www.investopedia.com
Agu Chiedozie Christian
2019/243418
Economics
ECO 204
12/02/22
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists also believe that, as their name suggests, the money supply is what regulates the economy. They see that managing money inventory directly impacts swelling and that by limiting money inventory, they may reduce future financing expenses. Monetarists believe that because the velocity of money is steady, raising the money supply will raise prices and real GDP in the near run.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern non monetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M * V = P * Q
Where;
● M is the money supply
● V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
● P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
● Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle.
WHO IS A MONETARIST?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. Milton Friedman was the first monetarist.
HOW MONETARIST EXPLAINS INFLATION
Monetarists argue that if the Money Supply rises faster than the rate of growth of nThe theoretical foundation of the monetarist system is the Quantity Theory of Money. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more the national income, then there will be inflation. … “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.
Name: Oke Amarachukwu Nnenna
Registration number: 2019/241949
Department: Economics
Date: 12-02-22
Macroeconomic Theory II: The Monetarist System and their Tenets.
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.
But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
How It Works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Characteristics of Monetarism.
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can oftentimes destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for the government is good.
THE TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Ngene Francisca onyeka
Economics
2019/249518
Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
M
V
=
P
Q
where:
M
=
money supply
V
=
velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P
=
average price of a good or service
Q
=
quantity of goods and services sold
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
Monetarist System
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Anuonye Anomnachi Yabuikem
2019/246211
Economics
ECO 204
11/02/22
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern non monetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M * V = P * Q
Where;
● M is the money supply
● V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
● P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
● Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
TENETS OF THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name; Onugwu Uzonna Michael
Reg. No; 2019/245479
Dept.; ECONOMICS
TOPIC;
MONETARISM AND MONETARIST ECONOMY
Monetarism: is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits, and credit is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance its growth or contraction can be regulated by changes in the money supply. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate. The most well-known monetarist is Milton Friedman, who wrote the first serious analysis using monetarist theory in his 1963 book, A Monetary History of The United States, 1867–1960. In the book, Friedman along with Anna Jacobson Schwartz argued in favor of monetarism as a way to combat the economic impacts of inflation. They argued that a lack of money supply amplified the financial crisis of the late 1920s and led to the Great Depression, and that a steady increase in the money supply in line with growth in the economy would produce growth without inflation. The monetarist view was a minority view in both academic and applied economics until the financial troubles of the 1970s. As unemployment and inflation soared, the dominant economic theory Keynesian economics was unable to explain the current economic puzzle presented by economic contraction and simultaneous inflation.
EFFECT OF MONETARISM ON THE LONG RUN
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates. Monetarists
say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.
They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money. Money Supply Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past. However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy. Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of
the economy with it.
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive this slows economic growth.
References:
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarist.asp
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetarism
Nwakanma Chisom Blessing
2019/241255
Economics
ECO 204
THE MONETARIST SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS
Monetarism, a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as MV = PQ. Here M is the supply of money, and V is the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services), while P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold, and Q represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favor of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counterproductive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
THE TENETS OF MONETARISM.
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Name: Omada Dorathy Amarachi
Reg No: 2017/243131
Department: Economics Education
Course Title: Introduction To Macro Economics II
Course Code: Eco 204
Assignment
Discuss on monetarist in macro Economics system and write about the main central idea of the monetarist.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. The monetarist believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth..
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities. The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates. For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy. When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows where:
M is the money supply.
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year).
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production.
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production. There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange. An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy. Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it. However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Milton Friedman who is regarded as an advocate of the monetarist theory contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent). Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
REFRENCES
Friedman, Milton, and David Meiselman, 1963. “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier in the United States, 1897–1958”, in Stabilization Policies, pp. 165–268. Prentice-Hall/Commission on Money and Credit, 1963.
Friedman, Milton, and Anna Jacobson Schwartz, 1963a. “Money and Business Cycles”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 45(1), Part 2, Supplement, p. p. 32–64. Reprinted in Schwartz, 1987, Money in Historical Perspective, ch. 2.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARY SYSTEM.
In order to understand this topic we therefore have to get a glimpse on the two terms here “MONETARISM” and “ MONETARY SYSTEM”.
What is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Thus, monetarism is a school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
MONETARIST THEORY
What Is Monetarist Theory?
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
In understanding Monetarism and Monetary Theory, Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability. In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Then in understanding Monetary theory, According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
REFERENCES
The New School’s Economics Department’s History of Economic Thought website.
McCallum, Bennett T. (2008). “Monetarism”. In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty. ISBN 978-0865976658. OCLC 237794267.
Monetarism from the Economics A–Z of The Economist
Name: Sibeudu Chukwuebuka Raluchukwu
Reg. No: 2019/244735
Department: Economics
Course Code: ECO 204
Date: 10-02-22
MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM:
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Key points to note under monetarism:
*The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
*According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
*Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy:
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
M * V = P * Q
Where;
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
* An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
* The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
* The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
* Long-run monetary neutrality: Long-run neutrality of money is defined here to imply a long-run independence of real variables from the money supply. It is a consensus view that money is unlikely to be neutral in the short run because the sources of non neutrality (e.g. sticky prices) are more effective in the short run.
* Short-run monetary non neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on the National Output and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to align.
* Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
* Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
UGWUANYI NKEONYE LAUREL
2019/243315
Understanding Monetarism and Monetarist Micro Economics System:
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
History of Monetarism:
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Milton Friedman and Monetarism:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money:
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism:
HiIn Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
HISTORY OF MONETARIST THEORY
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
REFERENCES
1.Wikipedia
2. Enclyopedia
The monetarist system is an economic system based on the macroeconomic theory of monetarism. According to Investopedia, Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetarism is based on the equation of exchange by John Stuart mill. Monetarism says that the money supply is the primary determinant of economic growth . According to sarwat and Chris (2014), It is mainly associated with the Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman of the US in his seminal work “A monetary history of the united States 1867-1960” in 1963, which he coauthored with fellow economist, Anna Schwartz. It was proposed as a solution to America’s economic depression of the 1970’s.
On the equation of exchange, since the total money available is used for the purchase of goods and services the identity , since it is an equation, and can be mathematically stated thus ;
MV=PQ
Where M = Money supply (the total amount of money in the economy)
V = Velocity of money (the number of times that money changes hands in the economy)
P = price level
Q= aggregate goods and services produced in the economy
The right side being the demand side, the nominal GDP and the left being the money supply
In it’s original form the velocity of money was thought to be constant and therefore the money supply directly affects the price level and the aggregate production in the economy and according to the classical economists there is full employment in the long run .This implies that the money supply affects both price level and aggregate production in the short run and only price in the long run .
TENETS OF MONETARISM
According to sarwat and Chris (2014), the Quantity theory of money is the basis for several key tenets of monetarism. Some of these are ;
Long run monetary neutrality
Short run monetary non neutrality
Constant money growth rule
Interest rate flexibility
Long run monetary neutrality is the fact that money supply in the long run affects only the price level and not any real production
Short run monetary non neutrality implies that money supply has temporary effects on real output and employment as it takes time for wages and prices to adjust , thus they are referred to as ‘sticky’ in economic parlance
Constant money growth rule was emphasized by Milton Friedman where he believed that the FED (federal reserve, which plays a role identical to a central bank in America) should set money supply growth rate to be equal to the growth rate of real GDP. And the FED should be held accountable to a set of rules to avoid thee destabilization effect caused by discretionary policies.
Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
The fact that the velocity of money is constant was refuted by the Keynesian economists led by John Maynard Keynes. The Keynesians proved that velocity of money was based on the institutions which affected the way people held money and therefore was is not constant and according to the balance, money has decreased in importance as a measure of liquidity as more people prefer to invest in the stock markets. A basic central difference between Keynesians and monetarists is that the Keynesians talk more or give more weight to unemployment while the monetarists give more weight to inflation and while the Keynesians say that inflation and unemployment are inversely related the monetarists say that only happens in the short run and there is no correlation in the short run. The difference between these two economic schools of thought have become more obscure that decades back.
According to the econweb lecture notes the velocity of money is not stable with empirical proof from a case study of the US. According to swart and Chris (2014), the velocity of money was once stable until 1981,from whence it started to vary from the stability once expected. Even though monetarism may have diminished in importance and the earlier recorded successes of Former FED chairman Paul Volcker, Former British prime minister Margaret thatcher and Former FED chairman Ben s. Bernanke in pulling their nations out of their respective inflations or recessions, the fact remains, inflation cannot go on for long without increase in money supply and controlling it should be the responsibility of the central bank.
However According to Investopedia, monetarist resuscitate the theory of monetarism by giving the reasons that the velocity of money is not stable but it can be predicted and then it is a better stabilization policy than fiscal policies as fiscal policies by the government usually introduces microeconomic distortion which is virtually non existent in the case of monetary policy as monetary policy .They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
REFERENCES
Sarwat Jahan and Chris Papageorgiou(2014) IMF Back to Basics. www. IMF.org
http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/monetarism/notes.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=Monetarism%20is%20an%20economic%20school,primary%20driver%20of%20economic%20growth.&text=When%20interest%20rates%20are%20increased,or%20contracting%20the%20money%20supply.
https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
Understanding Monetarism and Monetarist Micro Economics System
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Milton Friedman and Monetarism:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
KEYNESIAN, FRIEDMAN AND ANNA SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTION TO MONETARIST ECONOMY
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. Unreliable source. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
REFERENCES
How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
“Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 27: Milton Friedman’s Second Thoughts on the Costs of Paper Money”. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012.
Friedman, Milton (1970). “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis”. Journal of Political Economy. 78 (2): 193–238 [p. 210]. doi:10.1086/259623. JSTOR 1830684.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
REFRENCES
The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), Money: The New Palgrave, pp. 195–205, 492–97.
Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928326-2.
Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
Monetarist is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
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Related Terms
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity. more
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory, which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. more
What Is a Tight Monetary Policy?
A tight monetary policy refers to central bank policy aimed at cooling down an overheated economy and features higher interest rates and tighter money supply. more
Federal Reserve System (FRS) Definition
The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States and provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable financial system. more
What Is the Multiplier Effect?
The multiplier effect measures the impact that a change in investment will have on final economic output. more
What Is Monetary Policy?
Monetary policy is a set of actions available to a nation’s central bank to achieve sustainable economic growth by adjusting the money supply. more
Related Articles
FISCAL POLICY
A Look at Fiscal and Monetary Policy
ECONOMICS
What Is the Quantity Theory of Money?
FEDERAL RESERVE
The Federal Reserve Chair’s Responsibilities
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
What Methods Do Governments Use to Fight Inflation?
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Investopedia is part of the Dotdash publishing family.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Monetarist is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
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Related Terms
Monetary Theory Definition
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity. more
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory, which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. more
What Is a Tight Monetary Policy?
A tight monetary policy refers to central bank policy aimed at cooling down an overheated economy and features higher interest rates and tighter money supply. more
Federal Reserve System (FRS) Definition
The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States and provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable financial system. more
What Is the Multiplier Effect?
The multiplier effect measures the impact that a change in investment will have on final economic output. more
What Is Monetary Policy?
Monetary policy is a set of actions available to a nation’s central bank to achieve sustainable economic growth by adjusting the money supply. more
Related Articles
FISCAL POLICY
A Look at Fiscal and Monetary Policy
ECONOMICS
What Is the Quantity Theory of Money?
FEDERAL RESERVE
The Federal Reserve Chair’s Responsibilities
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
What Methods Do Governments Use to Fight Inflation?
FED
Advertise
News
Privacy Policy
Contact Us
Careers
California Privacy Notice
Investopedia is part of the Dotdash publishing family.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Monetarism is a macroeconomics theory which states that government can foster economics stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. It is an economics school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economics growth.
As the availability of money in the system increase aggregate demand for good and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourage job creation, which reduce the rate of unemployment and stimulate economics growth
A monetarist is an economists who holds the strong belief that money supply ( physical currency, deposit and credit) is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy.
EXAMPLE: Most monetarist opposed the gold standard in that the limited supply of gold would stall the amount of money in the system, which would lead to inflation. Their also believe they should be controlled by the money supply, which is not possible under the gold standard unless gold is continually mined.
HOW IT IS WORK
When the money supply expand, it lower interest rates.. because banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates .eg: consumer borrowing more to buy items like house automobiles and furniture. Decrease the money supply raises interest rates, making loan more expensive and this slow economics growth.
Spencer Divine Ezekwesiri
2019/243431
Economics major
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Followers of the theory, believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
In defining terms, Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money: The underlying equation
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
This underlying equation of exchange that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory, known as the “equation of exchange become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
MV=PQ
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one naira– is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity (V) is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
-An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
-Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
-The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
-The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
TENETS OF MONATARISTS
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomicsstandpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic
output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
How Money Supply (interest rates) Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
Thus it can be vividly said that money supply is a determinant of how the economy of a nation grows. It’s true that What boosts a nations economy is determined by the rate of industrial activities that go on. Nevertheless, when there’s a reduction in the Interest rate, for investors who wish invest, Of all effect, the economy of the Nation will boost as there will be Employment, increase in output and reduction in price if goods. Also the country in question can as well be able to export, causing a rise in the GDP and GNP of the country.
References
http://www.corporatefinanceinstitute.com
http://www.Investopedia
http://www.ecolib.org
Name: Ogbonna Sandra Chinenye
Reg.No: 2019/245659
Department: Economics
Email: sandra.ogbonna.245659@unn.edu.ng
Topic : UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
Monetary policy: This is an economic tool used in monetarism, it is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned}MV=PQwhere:M=money supplyV=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)P=average price of a good or serviceQ=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
In conclusion,it appears that there are two basic monetarist propositions that are of crucial importance, and they are as follows: (i) Cyclical and secular movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money relative to capacity output. (ii) There is no permanent tradeoff between unemployment and inflation or any other characteristic of the path of the price level — that is, the natural rate of unemployment hypothesis is valid.
NAME: OJOMAH FAVOUR ONYEKACHUKWU
REG NUMBER: 2019/244245
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
COURSE CODE: ECO 204
Monetarist System.
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
Monetarist theory arose in reaction to Keynesian theory, the mainstream school of economics in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s, which was based on the ideas of the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had provided a blueprint for recovery from the Great Depression (the severe crisis affecting the world economy in the 1930s), suggesting that governments could stimulate their ailing economies by cutting taxes and spending money, even if they had to go into debt. The money they spent (on public projects and on aid to the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly, for instance) would put money in people’s pockets so that they would be able to buy the products they needed and wanted. This increased consumer demand would give companies an incentive to expand their operations and hire new workers, which would increase demand still further. The United States and other countries did, in fact, pursue such policies, and their recovery from the Depression seemed to validate Keynes’s theories. Keynesian economics continued to dominate in academia and government in the following decades, as governments generally attempted to promote economic stability through tax and spending policies.
The founder and most prominent proponent of monetarism, American economist Milton Friedman, emerged as an opponent of this approach in the 1950s. Friedman’s views were at first seen as extreme, but they began to gain the attention of prominent economists with the publication of A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (1963). In this book Friedman and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz analyzed the role of the money supply in U.S. history, arguing that it was the most important factor in the country’s economic fluctuations. Friedman further believed that Keynesian attempts to fine-tune the economy through tax and spending policy did more harm than good. He believed that governments could play a role in stabilizing the economy but that the only effective tool they had for doing so was monetary policy (control over the money supply). Friedman predicted that Keynesian economic policies could eventually lead to an unprecedented situation in which inflation and unemployment could both rise at the same time. When this phenomena, which became known as stagflation (a combination of economic stagnation and inflation), occurred during the 1970s, economists and government leaders turned away from Keynesianism and toward Friedman and monetarist theory.
The theoretical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ. M, in this equation, represents the money supply, and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency (such as a dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy, and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy. In other words, the left side of the equation accounts for all of the money circulating in the economy and for the speed at which it is circulating, and the right side of the equation accounts for the entire output of the economy (the price of all goods and services multiplied by the quantity of those goods and services).
Monetarists use this equation to argue that as M increases (if V remains constant), then either P or Q will increase. It follows, then, that the size of the money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also to employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they are producing.
P, or prices, is a particularly important factor, since inflation poses one of the most persistent threats to any economy. Though inflation is a natural part of the economy, if it gets out of hand, the level of wages that people bring in will be insufficient to pay for their needs and wants, and they will be likely to demand higher wages. This can force inflation still higher (since companies will likely compensate for the increased wages they are paying workers by raising the prices of their goods) without solving the basic problem, and the devaluation of money continues.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by there being too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there is too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low, and it loses value. When there is not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high, and it gains value.
Monetarists believe that if a government’s central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. A central bank could theoretically do this by setting a strict rate of increase in the size of the money supply relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure that represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the economy. In other words, as the amount and value of the products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, then inflation will remain low.
Monetarists argue that whereas the effect of the money supply on the economy is direct and verifiable, the effects of fiscal policy (government spending and tax programs) are much less controllable. Monetary policy can reliably be counted on to have specific economic effects, but fiscal policy is inefficient, and it creates more problems than solutions. Monetarists argued, therefore, that governments should stop trying to manage the economy through fiscal policy and adopt, instead, a strictly monetary approach.
Name: Omeje Jacinta ukamaka
Reg no: 2017/250122
Department: Economics
Discuss the monetarist macroeconomic system
Monetarism is a school of thought in economics which states that money supply (that is, the total amount of money in circulation in an economy) is the major determinant of economic growth. The father of monetarism is American economist Milton Friedman and his theory gained popularity in the 1970s and early ’80s.
According to Milton Friedman, the government can promote economic stability by putting the rate of growth of the money supply under control, and this could be achieved by pursuing the simple rule that states that money supply be increased at a fixed annual rate tied to the possible growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage.
Following the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is given as MV=PQ.
Where M = the supply of money
V = the velocity of turnover of money (that is, the number of times per year on the average that money is spent on the purchase of goods and services)
P = the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold
Q = the quantity of goods and services produced.
This equation explains the fact that money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and price levels (P). If V is fixed, then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P means that Q will remain fixed, while an increase in Q means that P will be moderately fixed. According to monetarism, changes in the money supply will affect price levels in the long run, and output in the short run. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism is an extension of the Keynesian economics that focuses on the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to control aggregate demand. Monetary policy is a macroeconomic tool used in monetarism to shapen interest rates which controls money supply, such that when interest rates are increased, people are most likely to save than to spend and this reduces money supply. On the other hand, when interest rates are decreased following an expansionary monetary system, the rate of borrowing decreases and this means that people will have the tendency to borrow more and spend more, thereby activating the economy. Monetarism thus posits that the stable, moderate growth of the money supply could enable a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Federal Government reduces inflation by raising the federal government funds rate or decreasing the money supply. While Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
Name: Ezeamama Ifechukwu
Reg no: 2019/245102
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Core Beliefs on Monetarism
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Origin of Monetarism Theory:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism System vs. Keynesian Economics System
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
What is Monetarism:
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply in the Monetarist System
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor.Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How the Monetarist System Works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
NAME: MGBOH CHIDERA MARTINS
REG NO: 2019/242146
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
TOPIC: UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM
Monetarism, which gained popularity during the 1970s and the 1980s, is a theory in macroeconomics that emphasizes the importance of controlling the sum of money in circulation. Milton Friedman was one of the leading economic voices of the latter half of the 20th century and popularized many economic ideas that are still important today. Friedman’s economic theories became what is known as monetarism, which refuted important parts of Keynesian economics.
In his book A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, Friedman illustrated the role of monetary policy in creating and, arguably, worsening the Great Depression. Monetarist hypothesis attests that disparities in the money supply cause notable short-term impacts on national output and significant long-term effects on price levels.
One fundamental aspect of monetarism is the equation of exchange. Monetarists believe that an increase in the money supply at a constant velocity will result either in an increase in the average prices of goods and services or an increase in the quantity of goods and services being produced.
EQUATION OF EXCHANGE
M X V = P X Q
Where:
M – Money supply
V – Money turnover velocity
P – Average price levels
Q – Total quantity of goods and services produced
Also, following the equation of exchange, an increase in price levels would mean that there may be no increase in the quantity of goods and services being produced. An increase in the quantity of goods and services being produced would indicate constant price levels. The equation of exchange reinforces the concept that changes in the money supply result in a direct long-term impact on price levels, production levels, and employment.
Furthermore, monetarists argue that in order to encourage economic growth and stability, governments should increase the money supply with a steady annual rate, which should be linked to the expected growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). The rate should be quoted as a percentage.
Constant growth in the money supply (in theory) would result in low inflation and steady economic growth. However, the theory was proven to be inaccurate during the 1980s, as developments in bank product offerings made it challenging for economists to calculate money supply, with savings being an important variable in its computation.
A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country’s economy. A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks.
The Three Types of Monetary System
1. A commodity money system is a monetary system in which a commodity such as gold or seashells is made the unit of value and physically used as money. The money retains its value because of its physical properties. In some cases, a government may stamp a metal coin with a face, value or mark that indicates its weight or asserts its purity, but the value remains the same even if the coin is melted down.
2. One step away from commodity money is “commodity-backed money”, also known as “representative money”. Many currencies have consisted of bank-issued notes which have no inherent physical value, but which may be exchanged for a precious metal, such as gold. (This is known as the gold standard.) The silver standard was widespread after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and lasted until 1935, when it was abandoned by China and Hong Kong. A 20th-century variation was bimetallism, also called the “double standard”, under which both gold and silver were legal tender.
3. The alternative to a commodity money system is fiat money which is defined by a central bank and government law as legal tender even if it has no intrinsic value. Central banks control the creation of money by commercial banks, by setting interest rates on reserves. This limits the amount of money the commercial banks are willing to lend, and thus create, as it affects the profitability of lending in a competitive market. This is the opposite of what many people believe about the creation of fiat money. The most common misconception was that central banks print all the money, this is not reflective of what actually happens. Today’s global monetary system is essentially a fiat system because people can use paper bills or bank balances to buy goods.
Uses of Money
1. Medium: Money is used as a means of payment or a medium of exchange and therefore eliminates the coincidence of needs problem that is created by a barter system. The coincidence of needs requires that two parties want what the other person is willing to trade, and thus makes it difficult to trade.
2. Measurement: It is also a standard unit of measurement that can be used to price things and to compare value. For example, a book costs $150, a meal costs $5, and a long-distance call costs $0.10/min. To compare their value, we can say one book = 30 meals = 1500 minutes on a long-distance call.
3. Value: Money can be used to store value, and thus it becomes an asset itself. However, money may not be a good store of value since it loses value over time due to inflation.
How does the government provides money in a country’s economy
The government in an economy makes use of various policy to provide money in a country’s economy. Various policy include fiscal policy, monetary policy and tax policy. But here we are going to discuss on monetary policy, it type and how it is used to generate money supply in a country.
Monetary policy is the control of the quantity of money available in an economy and the channels by which new money is supplied. Monetary policy is a set of tools that a nation’s central bank has available to promote sustainable economic growth by controlling the overall supply of money that is available to the nation’s banks, its consumers, and its businesses. The goal is to keep the economy humming along at a rate that is neither too hot nor too cold. The central bank may force up interest rates on borrowing in order to discourage spending or force down interest rates to inspire more borrowing and spending. By managing the money supply, a central bank aims to influence macroeconomic factors including inflation, the rate of consumption, economic growth, and overall liquidity. In addition to modifying the interest rate, a central bank may buy or sell government bonds, regulate foreign exchange (forex) rates, and revise the amount of cash that the banks are required to maintain as reserves.
Types of Monetary Policies
Broadly speaking, monetary policies can be categorized as either expansionary or contractionary:
1. Expansionary Monetary Policy: If a country is facing high unemployment due to a slowdown or a recession, the monetary authority can opt for an expansionary policy aimed at increasing economic growth and expanding economic activity. As a part of expansionary policy, the monetary authority often lowers the interest rates in order to promote spending money and make saving it unattractive. Increased money supply in the market aims to boost investment and consumer spending. Lower interest rates mean that businesses and individuals can get loans on favorable terms.
2. Contractionary Monetary Policy: A contractionary monetary policy increases interest rates in order to slow the growth of the money supply and bring down inflation. This can slow economic growth and even increase unemployment but is often seen as necessary to cool down the economy and keep prices in check.
The main monetary policy instruments available to central banks are open market operation, bank reserve requirement, interest rate policy, re-lending and re-discount (including using the term repurchase market), and credit policy (often coordinated with trade policy).
Reserve requirements are the amount of cash that banks must have, in their vaults or at the closest Federal Reserve bank, in line with deposits made by their customers.
Open market operations (OMO) refers to the Federal Reserve (the Fed) practice of buying and selling U.S. Treasury securities, along with other securities, on the open market in order to regulate the supply of money that is on reserve in U.S. banks
References
1. Levy Yeyati, Eduardo; Sturzenegger, Federico (2010). “Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies”. Handbooks in Economics. Handbook of Development Economics. Vol. 5. pp. 4215–4281. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-52944-2.00002-1. ISBN 9780444529442.
2. Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
3. Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
4. _____. 1963b. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton. Page-searchable links to chapters on 1929-41 and 1948–60
Name:Udekwu Sharon Chikaodili
Reg no: 2019/249132
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Core Beliefs on Monetarism
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Origin of Monetarism Theory:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism System vs. Keynesian Economics System
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Name:Onyia Ugochukwu Sullivan
Reg no: 2019/249490
What is Monetarism:
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Background on Monetarism
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply in the Monetarist System
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor.Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return. That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How the Monetarist System Works:
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
Name: Ubazoro Chukwuemeka George
Reg no: 2019/251195
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Core Beliefs on Monetarism
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Origin of Monetarism Theory:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism System vs. Keynesian Economics System
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Core Beliefs on Monetarism
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Origin of Monetarism Theory:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism System vs. Keynesian Economics System
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
Where;
M= Money supply
V= Velocity (rate at which money changes hand)
P= Average price of a good or service
Q= Quantity of goods and services sold.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
REFERENCES
1.International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?” https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm#:~:text=Monetarism%20gained%20prominence%20in%20the,Prize%E2%80%93winning%20economist%20Milton%20Friedman.
2.Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Effective Federal Funds Rate.”
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS.
3.International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?”
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/basics.htm
ONYISHI CYNTHIA CHETACHI
2019/243107
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
ECO204 ASSIGNMENT
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
History of Monetarism:
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism:
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism:
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money;
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics:
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism:
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
MONETARIST MICROECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behaviour of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
Monetarists believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy while allowing the rest of the market to fix itself. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods an d services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory. However, the quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary no neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
CONTROLLING MONEY SUPPLY
There are three main levers for controlling money supply :
1.The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits.
2. The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves.
3.Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
MONETARIST ECONOMICS VS KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS THEORY
Monetarist economics is Milton Friedman’s direct criticism of Keynesian economics theory, formulated by John Maynard Keynes. Simply put, the difference between these theories is that monetarist economics involves the control of money in the economy, while Keynesian economics involves government expenditures.
Monetarists believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy while allowing the rest of the market to fix itself. In contrast, Keynesian economists believe that a troubled economy continues in a downward spiral unless an intervention drives consumers to buy more goods and services. Both of these macroeconomic theories directly impact the way lawmakers create fiscal and monetary policies. If both types of economists were equated to motorists, monetarists would be most concerned with adding gasoline to their tanks, while Keynesians would be most concerned with keeping their motors running.
HOW DOES MONEY SUPPLY WORK?
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth. In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates.
The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate. The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Example of monetarism(UK inflation 1970s – 1980s)
Margaret Thatcher was another dignitary who had embraced monetarism to battle inflation. The UK was experiencing prolonged inflation before the 1980s, hitting 25% in the mid-1970s. As a result, there was heavy unemployment, adding to the economic crisis.
After becoming the prime minister, Thatcher made decisions in line with monetarism, free-market concept, privatization and minimal government intervention. The base rate was increased to 17% to arrest inflation and it did eventually. Thatcher successfully brought down inflation by the early 1980s. However, while some sectors boomed terrifically, unemployment went up and manufacturing declined, decreasing the GDP.
Monetarist Theory Limitations
1.Maintaining steady and moderate growth of the money supply is impossible because money circulates in many forms.
2. Economic events are unpredictable and having a set growth rate could pressurize an economy when there is a massive gap between actual and estimated development.
3.In economics, the evidence supporting monetarist’s beliefs is scarce.
4.The monetary policy excludes non-monetary factors such political interference, unequal wealth distribution, corruption, etc.
NAME: OMEBE SAMUEL OFORBUIKE
REG NO: 2019/246454
Monetarism is a school of thought that believes that if you control the money supply, the rest of a country’s economy will take care of itself – the money supply is the main determinant of economic activity. Monetarism grew in opposition to the Keynesian policies of demand management that emerged during the Great Depression of the 1930s and grew in popularity after World War II.
The money supply is the total amount of money that is currently present in a country’s economy, i.e. all its money.
Supporters of monetarism are called monetarists. They believe that inflation is nearly always traced back to the government printing too much money – printing more money at a rate faster than GDP (gross domestic product) growth.
Monetarists claim that variations in the money supply are major drivers of national output in the short-term and on prices over the long-term.Monetarism’s leading advocate is the economist Milton Friedman.”
Milton Friedman (1912-2006), an American economist who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, argued that governments should keep the supply of money fairly steady, increasing it annually to allow for the natural GDP growth.
If governments managed to stick to this, Prof. Friedman added, market forces would on their own solve the problems of recession, unemployment and inflation.
Central to the monetarism is the Equation of Exchange, which is expressed in the following equation:
MV = PQ
‘M‘ stands for the money supply, ‘V‘ is velocity or how often each year the average dollar is spent, ‘P’ represents the prices of products and services, and ‘Q’ is the quantity of goods and services.
The equation suggests that if V is constant and the Money Supply is increasing, either P or Q must be increasing.
Accordingly, monetarists argue that policymakers are able to control inflation by not allowing M to grow faster than the desired rate of GDP growth (Q).
Although monetarism grew in importance in the late 1970s, it was criticized by the school of thought that it sought to replace – Keynesianism. Keynesians believe that the key to economic output is demand for products and services.
Followers of Keynesian economics contend that monetarism fails as an adequate explanation of the economy because V is inherently unstable, and attach virtually no significance to the Quantity Theory of Money and the monetarist call for rules.
Nwankwo Faith Obiageli….2019/244721
How important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who is the founding father,who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
Which is the building block for monetarist theory. A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. The difference between these
theories is that monetarist economics involves the control of money in the economy, while Keynesian economics involves government expenditures. Monetarists believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy while allowing the rest of the market to fix itself.
*Characteristics of Monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
– The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
– The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
– The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
– Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates. Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Examples of monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism. Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending).
NAME: Udeze Kelechi Blessing
REG NO: 2019/241719
DEPT: Social science education ( Economics Education)
Assignment on micro economics theory ll
Topic: Discuss monetarist macro economics system
What is monetarist?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply including physical currency, deposits and credit is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance. Its growth or contraction can be regulated by changes in the money supply. Monetarist are economist and policy makers who subscribe to the theory of of monetarism. Monetarist believe that regulating the money supply is the most effective and direct way of regulating the economy. Famous monetarist include Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Margaret thatcher. Monetarist argue that if the money supply rises faster than the rate of growth of national income, then there will be inflation. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.
Monetarists are certain that money supply is what controls the economy as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and thereby fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rate in the future.
Monetarism is a macro economics theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply one can control the inflation rate.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the united states’ and the united kingdom. After U.S inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the fed switched it’s operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
Milton Friedman was one of the leading economic voices of the latter half of the 20th century and popularized many economic idea that are still important today. Friedman’s economic theories became what is known as monetarism which refuted important parts of Keynesian economics. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman who argued based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly stead, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman who formulated the theory of monetarism asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Monetarist theory
Monetarist theory regards a nation’s economic growth as fostered by changes in it’s money supply. Therefore any and all changes within a set economic system such as a change in interest rates are believed to be a direct result of changes in the money supply. Monetarist policy which is enacted to regulate and promote growth within a nation’s economy ultimately seeks to increase a nation’s domestic money supply moderately and steadily over time.
In 1867- 1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K percent rule in his book, “A monetary history of the united states”. He suggest that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly the economy will grow at a steady rate and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Characteristics of monetarism
* The theoretical foundation is the quantity theory of money.
* The economy is inherently stable markets work well when left to themselves.
* Fiscal policy is often bad policy.
References
* ewworblencyclopedia.org
* https://www.encyclopedia.com
* https://www.investopedia.com
NAME: MONEKE, FAVOUR CHIBUZOR
REG NO: 2019/249605
EMAIL: monekefavour@gmail.com
MONETARISM
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy. But one school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods.
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
MONETARISM: NIGERIA A CASE STUDY
The Impact Of Monetary Policy On The Economic Growth Of Nigeria
In Nigeria, monetary policy has been used since the Central bank of Nigeria was saddled the responsibility of formulating and implementing monetary policy by Central bank Act of 1958. This role has facilitated the emergence of active money market where treasury bills, a financial instrument used for open market operations and raising debt for government has grown in volume and value becoming a prominent earning asset for investors and source of balancing liquidity in the market. There have been various regimes of monetary policy in Nigeria sometimes, monetary policy is tight and at other times it is loose mostly used to stabilize prices. The economy has also witnessed times of expansion and contraction but evidently, the reported growth has not been a sustainable one as there is evidence of growing poverty among the populace. The question is, could the period of growth be attributed to appropriate monetary policy? And could the periods of economic down turn be blamed on factors other than monetary policy ineffectiveness? What measures are to be considered if monetary policy would be effective in bringing about sustainable economic growth and development? These are the Questions this study would attempt to answer. The objective of this study therefore, is to assess the impact of monetary policy in Nigeria, specifically, if it has facilitated growth or not and examine the effect of other co-operant factors in bringing about the desired sustainable economic development in Nigeria.
The primary goal of monetary policy in Nigeria has been the maintenance of domestic price and exchange rate stability since it is critical for the attainment of sustainable economic growth and external sector viability (Sanusi, 2002. P. 1) (Adefeso and Mobolaji, 2010) employed Jahansen maximum likelihood co-integration procedure to show that there is a long run relationship between economic growth, degree of openness, government expenditure and M2. (Ajisafe and Folunso, 2002) observe that that monetary policy exerts significant impact on economic activity in Nigeria. (Kogar 1995) examinee the relationship between financial innovations and monetary control and concludes that in a changing financial structure, Central Banks cannot realize efficient monetary policy without setting new procedures and instruments in the long-run, because profit seeking financial institutions change or create new instruments in order to evade regulations or respond to the economic conditions in the economy. Examining the evolution of monetary policy in Nigeria in the past four decades, (Nnanna, 2001, P. 11) observe that though, the Monetary management in Nigeria has been relatively more successful during the period of financial sector reform which is characterized by the use of indirect rather than direct monetary policy tools yet, the effectiveness of monetary policy has been undermined by the effects of fiscal dominance, political interference and the legal environment in which the Central Bank operates. (Busari et-al 2002) state that monetary policy stabilizes the economy better under a flexible exchange rate system than a fixed exchange rate system and it stimulates growth better under a flexible rate regime but is accompanied by severe depreciation, which could destabilize the economy meaning that monetary policy would better stabilize the economy if it is used to target inflation directly than be used to directly stimulate growth.
Research Methodology: This research is designed to critically appraise the monetary policy in Nigeria in the light of macroeconomic performance of the country. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) i.e. regression a nalysis method is used to analyse the data that are collected from Central Bank of Nigeria and National Bureau of Statistics publications for various years covering 1981 to 2008. In demonstrating the application of the Ordinary Least Square method, three multiple regression models is used with the liquidity ratio, money supply, cash ratio as the independent variables in all the models while gross domestic product, inflation rate and balance of payment would be the dependent variables in model one, model two and model three respectively.
PROBLEMS AND CONTROVERSIES OF MONETARY POLICY
Lags: Perhaps the greatest obstacle facing the Fed, or any other central bank, is the problem of lags. It is easy enough to show a recessionary gap on a graph and then to show how monetary policy can shift aggregate demand and close the gap. In the real world, however, it may take several months before anyone even realizes that a particular macroeconomic problem is occurring. When monetary authorities become aware of a problem, they can act quickly to inject reserves into the system or to withdraw reserves from it. Once that is done, however, it may be a year or more before the action affects aggregate demand. The problem of lags suggests that monetary policy should respond not to statistical reports of economic conditions in the recent past but to conditions expected to exist in the future. In justifying the imposition of a contractionary monetary policy early in 1994, when the economy still had a recessionary gap, Greenspan indicated that the Fed expected a one-year impact lag. The policy initiated in 1994 was a response not to the economic conditions thought to exist at the time but to conditions expected to exist in 1995.
Choosing Targets: In attempting to manage the economy, on what macroeconomic variables should the Fed base its policies? It must have some target, or set of targets, that it wants to achieve. The failure of the economy to achieve one of the Fed’s targets would then trigger a shift in monetary policy. The choice of a target, or set of targets, is a crucial one for monetary policy. Possible targets include interest rates, money growth rates, and the price level or expected changes in the price level.
Interest Rates: Interest rates, particularly the federal funds rate, played a key role in recent Fed policy. The FOMC does not decide to increase or decrease the money supply. Rather, it engages in operations to nudge the federal funds rate up or down.Up until August 1997, it had instructed the trading desk at the New York Federal Reserve Bank to conduct open-market operations in a way that would either maintain, increase, or ease the current “degree of pressure” on the reserve positions of banks. That degree of pressure was reflected by the federal funds rate; if existing reserves were less than the amount banks wanted to hold, then the bidding for the available supply would send the federal funds rate up. If reserves were plentiful, then the federal funds rate would tend to decline. When the Fed increased the degree of pressure on reserves, it sold bonds, thus reducing the supply of reserves and increasing the federal funds rate. The Fed decreased the degree of pressure on reserves by buying bonds, thus injecting new reserves into the system and reducing the federal funds rate.
Money Growth Rates: Until 2000, the Fed was required to announce to Congress at the beginning of each year its target for money growth that year and each report dutifully did so. At the same time, the Fed report would mention that its money growth targets were benchmarks based on historical relationships rather than guides for policy. As soon as the legal requirement to report targets for money growth ended, the Fed stopped doing so. Since in recent years the Fed has placed more importance on the federal funds rate, it must adjust the money supply in order to move the federal funds rate to the level it desires. As a result, the money growth targets tended to fall by the wayside, even over the last decade in which they were being reported. Instead, as data on economic conditions unfolded, the Fed made, and continues to make, adjustments in order to affect the federal funds interest rate.
Political Pressures: The institutional relationship between the leaders of the Fed and the executive and legislative branches of the federal government is structured to provide for the Fed’s independence. Members of the Board of Governors are appointed by the president, with confirmation by the Senate, but the 14-year terms of office provide a considerable degree of insulation from political pressure. A president exercises greater influence in the choice of the chairman of the Board of Governors; that appointment carries a four-year term. Neither the president nor Congress has any direct say over the selection of the presidents of Federal Reserve district banks. They are chosen by their individual boards of directors with the approval of the Board of Governors. The degree of independence that central banks around the world have varies. A central bank is considered to be more independent if it is insulated from the government by such factors as longer-term appointments of its governors and fewer requirements to finance government budget deficits. Studies in the 1980s and early 1990s showed that, in general, greater central bank independence was associated with lower average inflation and that there was no systematic relationship between central bank independence and other indicators of economic performance, such as real GDP growth or unemployment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings made in the course of this study, particularly the results of the regression models, it is clear that the development of the Nigerian economy is highly dependent on the provision of the right environment for investment, which will in no doubt encourage economic growth and development. The following recommendations are hereby made:
(1) Monetary policies should be used to create a favorable investment climate by facilitating the emergency of market-based interest rate and exchange rate regimes that attract both domestic and foreign investments, create jobs, promote non-oil export and revive industries that are currently operation far below installed capacity. In order to strengthen the financial sector, the Central Bank has to encourage the introduction of more financial instruments that are flexible enough to meet the risk preferences and sophistication of operators in the financial sector.
(2) The government should also endeavor to make the financial sector less volatile and more viable as it is in developed countries. This will allow for smooth execution of the Central Bank monetary policies. Law relating to the operation of the financial institutions could be made a bit less stringent and more favorable for the operators to have room to operate more freely.
(3) The Central Bank should find a way of reducing the level of deficit financing, improve funding of the informal sector and the SMEs and promote their integration into the formal sector while at the same time working with government to improve the tax regime to make the tax capacity to approach the tax potential so as to reduce tax evasion to barest minimum and ensure that there is proper balancing between capital and recurrent expenditures of government.
REFERENCES
Adefeso, H. and Mobolaji, H. (2010) ‘The fiscal- monetary policy and economic growth in Nigeria: further empirical evidence’, Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 7(2) Pp 142
Batini, N. (2004) ‘Achieving and maintaining price stability in Nigeria’. IMF Working Paper WP/04/97, June.
Borio, C. (1995) ‘The structure of credit to the non-government sector and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy: A Cross-Country Comparison,’ Bank for International Settlement Working Paper, Basle, April.
Busari,D., Omoke, P and Adesoye, B. (2002) ‘Monetary policy and macroeconomic stabilization under Alternative exchange rate regime: evidence from Nigeria’.
Diamond, R. (2003) Irving Fisher on the international transmission of boom and depression through money standard: Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 35 Pp 49 online edition
Folawewo, A and Osinubi, T. (2006) ‘Monetary policy and macroeconomic instability in Nigeria: A Rational Expectation Approach’. Journal of Social Science, vol.12(2): pp.93-100.
Friedman, Milton. (1968) ‘ The role of monetary policy, American Economic Review, Vol. 58, No 1.Pp 1-17
Friedman, M and Schwartz, A. (1963) ‘Money and business cycles’ Review of Economics and Statistics, February, pp. 32-64
Gertler, M and Gilchrist, S. (1991) ‘Monetary policy, business cycles and the behaviour of small manufacturing firms’ WP 3892, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, November.
Keynes, J. (1930) ‘Treatise on money’ London, Macmillian. P. 90 Kogar, C. (1995) ‘Financial innovations and monetary control’ The Central Bank of The Republic of Turkey
Modigliani, F. (1963) ‘The monetary mechanism and its interaction with real phenomena’, Review of Economics and Statistics, Supplement, February, pp. 79-107
Nnanna, O. (2001) ‘The monetary policy framework in Africa: The Nigerian experience. Extracted from www2.resbank.co.za/internet/publication…./Nigeria.pdf. Pp 11
Oliner,S and Rudebusch, G. (1995) ‘Is there a bank lending channel for monetary policy?’ Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, No. 2 pp.3-20.
Sanusi, J. (2002) ‘Central Bank and the macroeconomic environment in Nigeria’. Being a Lecture delivered to participants of the senior executive course No. 24 of the national Institute for policy and strategic studies (NIPSS), Kuru on 19 th august.
Tobin, J. (1978) ‘Aproposal for international monetary reform’ Easter Economic Journal, Easter Economic Association, Vol. 4(3) Page 153-159.
NAME: SAMUEL FAVOUR
REGNO::2019/246079
DEPT: EDUCATION AND ECONOMICS
EMAIL: samuelfavour807@gmail.com
The monetarist school holds that changes in the money supply are the primary cause of changes in nominal GDP.
Monetarists generally argue that the impact lags of monetary policy—the lags from the time monetary policy is undertaken to the time the policy affects nominal GDP—are so long and variable that trying to stabilize the economy using monetary policy can be destabilizing. Monetarists thus are critical of activist stabilization policies. They argue that, because of crowding-out effects, fiscal policy has no effect on GDP. Monetary policy does, but it should not be used. Instead, most monetarists urge the Fed to increase the money supply at a fixed annual rate, preferably the rate at which potential output rises. With stable velocity, that would eliminate inflation in the long run. Recessionary or inflationary gaps could occur in the short run, but monetarists generally argue that self-correction will take care of them more effectively than would activist monetary policy.
Monetarists could also cite the apparent validity of an adjustment mechanism proposed by Milton Friedman in 1968. As the economy continued to expand in the 1960s, and as unemployment continued to fall, Friedman said that unemployment had fallen below its natural rate, the rate consistent with equilibrium in the labor market. Any divergence of unemployment from its natural rate, he insisted, would necessarily be temporary. He suggested that the low unemployment of 1968 (the rate was 3.6% that year) meant that workers had been surprised by rising prices. Higher prices had produced a real wage below what workers and firms had expected. Friedman predicted that as workers demanded and got higher nominal wages, the price level would shoot up and unemployment would rise. That, of course, is precisely what happened in 1970 and 1971. Friedman’s notion of the natural rate of unemployment buttressed the monetarist argument that the economy moves to its potential output on its own.
The Monetarists as a macro school of thought emphasize on:
1: Long-run monetary neutrality.
2: Short-run monetary non-neutrality
3: The distinction between real and nominal interest rates
4: The role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis.
The original monetarist all emphasized the role of monetary policy aggregates such as M1,M2,and the monetary base in monetary policy analysis.
Instead, Friedman and Monetarist economists focus on keeping inflation low and stable by controlling the money supply. In their view, the greatest danger to an economy is when the money supply falls either too low or rises too high for the given economic environment.
For example, in times when inflation is too high, the money supply should be decreased. With less money circulating, supply and demand principles will bring inflation back down to lower levels. In the opposite scenario, like in the instance of a liquidity crisis, Monetarists think the monetary base should be expanded to prevent a damaging deflationary spiral. As a result in both cases, interest rates will move to appropriate levels to either encourage or discourage borrowing, keeping aggregate supply and aggregate demand in balance.
Monetarists believe that macroeconomic policy can have little effect on real variables such as output and employment, that its main effect is on the inflation rate. The cornerstone of monetarist theory is the quantity theory of money as restated by Friedman. The traditional quantity theory was encapsulated into the identity mv = py where m is the money supply, v is the velocity of Circulation, p is the price level, and y is the real national income. It was assumed that the velocity of circulation was affected by institutional factors which, by their nature, were very slow to change. Therefore the velocity of Circulation was assumed to be relatively constant and the money supply to be directly related to the nominal national income. Monetarists further believed that all monetary magnitudes would move in Similar ways. As David Laidler expounded, ‘The consensus belief was that, ifthe growth of one aggregate was pinned down by policy, then that of the others would be brought into line by the stable portfolio behaviour of the private sector and all would be well”. It was not to be.One other monetarist tenet is the advocacy of monetary rules and their denial of any positive role for discretionary monetary policy. Friedman advocated that if necessary governments should be required by law to publish and abide by a monetary rule.
Monetarist models have largely ignored exchange rates. In those models where exchange rates have featured prominently, it has been assumed that currencies would follow a smooth adjustment path in line with relative rates of monetary growth. However since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1973,large movements of short-term capital between countries have ensured that the currency market has not been a stable market tending towards eqUilibrium. In practice exchange rates have tended to move in line with interest rates. Therefore monetary targeting in effect demotes the exchange rate to being a reSidual variable of economic policy. In conclusion The central tenet of monetarism is quite simple -it is that changes in the nominal stock of money are the dominant cause of changes in money income. Monetarists believe that the largest effect of money supply changes is on inflation rather than real macro variables. As Friedman put it: “The central fact is that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. HistOrically, substantial changes in prices have always occurred together with substantial changes in the quantity of money relative to output. I know of no exception to this generalization”. Monetarists believe that macroeconomic policy can have little effect on real variables such as output and employment, that its main effect is on the inflation rate.
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Badernhost,I.Mabaso,GST,Tshabalala,HSS(2012)ViaAfrikaEconomicsGrade12,ViaAfrika.
Levin,M.andPretorius,M(2012).Enjoy Economics
Grade12, Heinemann.Mohr& Fourie ,Economics for South African Students(2011:537).
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Basson,E.Beautement.VSmith,L.(2013) Oxford Successful Economics Grade12, Oxford
UniversityPress.
Reg no. 2019/242791
THE MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM
The monetarist economy is a macro economic theory that focuses on the effects of the supply of money on the economy. It is a concept which states that government can force the economic stability by attacking the growth rate of money supply. Essentially, it is based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. This theory was founded by Milton Friedman, who argued that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price level and ensure stability.
As its name suggests, monetarism is primarily concerned with monetary policy which involves controlling the money supply in the economy and is claimed to be the single most important factor influencing short and long term economic changes. In the short term, individual decisions regarding consumption and investment are infected by changes in the money supply. Increases in the money supply would encourage spending and this will boost economic activities, while decreases will reduce it. Affective monetary policy helps to stabilize prices without affecting individual output and consumption in the long term.
High inflation can be addressed by reducing the supply of money into the economy with the long term benefits of stability outweighing any short term costs.
The approach to monetarist policies is associated with a significant increase in the money supply as a means of growing inflation rates. The argument is that in the long term, stability and growth will result. Friedman’s Theory of Money states that center to monetarism is the quantity theory of money which states that money supply multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. Mathematically, MV=PY.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Y(output). An increase in Y means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels, and this theory is referred to as the Quantity Theory of Money.
Using an illustration to describe this theory, consider the journey a Naira note might take in a year. Imagine that the naira note starts with Precious who buys a book from John, a street vendor; john then gives it to his daughter who spends it on a shuttle ride to the department; it ends up the house of Chike, the bus driver who spends it on suya in the evening. So, this Naira note has been spent three times throughout the period.
The Naira note is M; how many times that Naira gets used in a year is called the velocity of money, V (in this case 3times). The book, ride, and suya are real goods and service represented by Y; the prices of those commodities is P. Thinking about all these variables in a whole, M= money supply, V= velocity (people who shop a lot have higher velocities than those who prefer to save the money), P = price level of all finished goods in the economy and Y = all the goods and services sold in the economy (real GDP), when multiplied by price it equals nominal GDP. This is similar to multiplying M and V- nominal GDP. So they are equal by definition. One way to think about it is that how much money we have in total times the number of times we spend in total covers the actions of buyers, while the goods we sell times the price we sell it covers the actions of sellers.
Monetarism also emphasizes the importance of the money supply and the decisions central banks make about what to do with the money supply. In the long run, the absolute amount of money in the economy does not really influence real output or real employment but in the short run, changes in the rate of inflation does influence it. In a system where the Federal reserve creates too much money for the economy, prices will be rising and inflation tends to distort the allocation of economic resources.
In conclusion, monetarists believe that changes in M directly effects and determines, employment, inflation and production. If V is constant and predictable, then an increase or decrease in M, will lead to an increase or decrease in either P or Y. an increase in P denotes that Y will remain constant while and increase in Y means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels at the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply therefore, will determine the prices, production and employment.
References
https://www.britannica.com/topic/monetarism
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetarism
https://youtu.be/CuyblgOHu-Y
NAME: EZE DANIEL UCHENNA
REG NO: 2018/244280
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. Similarly Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
BRIEF HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic. Monetarism brought down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09. Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
Where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth. In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate. The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy
Examples of Monetarism: Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year.He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Name: Ozoanidiobi Victoria Ekene
RegNo: 2019/241726
Department: Education Economics
Discuss and analyze the Monetarist System and their tenets.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory, which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians. Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth. Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability. In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
Reference
WILL KENTON, 2021. Reviewed by CHARLES POTTERS. Monetary theory.
Phillip Cagan, 1987. “Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics
Friedman, Milton 1970. “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis
Name: Onyema Divine Oluchi
Reg No: 2019/244390
Department: Economics
Course: Macroeconomic Theory 2 Eco 204
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.”Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favour with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Principles/ tenets of monetarist macroeconomic system
One principle is that monetary policy should be well understood and systematic. The objectives of monetary policy should be stated clearly and communicated to the public. The Congress has directed the Federal Reserve to use monetary policy to promote both maximum employment and price stability; those are the objectives of U.S. monetary policy.
A second principle is that the central bank should provide monetary policy stimulus when economic activity is below the level associated with full resource utilization and inflation is below its stated goal. Conversely, the central bank should implement restrictive monetary policy when the economy is overheated and inflation is above its stated goal. In some circumstances, the central bank should follow this principle in a preemptive manner. For example, economic developments such as a large, unanticipated change in financial conditions might not immediately alter inflation and employment but would do so in the future and thus might call for a prompt, forward-looking policy response.
A third principle is that the central bank should raise the policy interest rate, over time, by more than one-for-one in response to a persistent increase in inflation and lower the policy rate more than one-for-one in response to a persistent decrease in inflation. For example, if the inflation rate rises from 2 percent to 3 percent and the increase is not caused by temporary factors, the central bank should raise the policy rate by more than one percentage point. Such an adjustment to the policy rate translates into an increase in the real policy rate–that is, the level of the policy rate adjusted for inflation–when inflation rises and a decrease in the real policy rate when inflation slows. As the real policy rate rises, it feeds through to other real interest rates that determine how expensive it is for households and businesses to borrow money to finance consumption or investment spending, adjusted for inflation. Raising real interest rates tends to reduce growth of economic activity, and firms tend to increase prices less rapidly when they see slower growth in their sales. As a result, inflation is kept in check. A symmetric logic applies to the central bank’s response to persistent decreases in inflation.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill.
The trouble with monetarism lies in identifying the money in the economy that makes monetarist theory work.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply.1 They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor.3 Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
Milton Friedman Is the Father of Monetarism
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices.9 That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year.10 He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Macro economics
2019/249105
(Economics education)
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.the competing theory to the monetarist theory is KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS.
monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Example of monetarist theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion of the history of the U.S. economy.
History of the monetarist theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
lnterestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth iven that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How money supply affects the economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The underlying equation
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows.
Monetarist theory equation=M x V =P x Q
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production. According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarist theory vs Keynesian
Monetarism spoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
What is the Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
Summary
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy.
According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation.
Monetarism is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
References
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L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
J.W. Angell (1933) “Monetary Control and General Business Stabilization”, in Economic Essays in Honor of Gustav Cassel. London: Allen and Unwin.
J.W. Angell (1936) The Behavior of Money. New York: McGraw-Hill.
G.C. Archibald (1969) “The Philips Curve and the Distribution of Unemployment”, American Economic Review, Vol. 59 (2), p.124-9.
M.J. Bailey (1956) “The Welfare Cost of Inflationary Finance”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 64, p.93-110.
T.F. Bewley (1980) “The Optimum Quantity of Money”, in J.H. Kareken and N. Wallace, Models of Monetary Economies, Minneapolis: Federal Reserve of Minneapolis.
T.F. Bewley (1983) “A Difficulty with the Optimum Quantity of Money”, Econometrica, Vol. 51, p.1485-1504.
K. Brunner (1968) “The Role of Money and Monetary Policy”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 50, p.8-24.
K. Brunner (1970) “The Monetarist Revolution in Monetary Theory”, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Vol. 105 (1), p.1-30.
K. Brunner (1981) “Controlling Monetary Aggregates”, in Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Controlling Monetary Aggregates III, p.1-65.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1963) “Predicting Velocity: Implications for theory and policy”, Journal of Finance, Vol. 18, p.319-54.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1964) “The Federal Reserve’s Attachment to the Free Reserve Concept”, Committe on Banking and Currency, U.S. Congress. As reprinted in Brunner and Meltzer, 1989K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1964) “Some Further Investigations of Demand and Supply Functions for Money”, Journal of Finance, Vol. 19, p.240-83.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1968) “Liquidity Traps for Money, Bank Credit and Interest Rates”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 76 (1), p.1-37. Reprinted in Brunner and Meltzer, 1989.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1971) “A Monetarist Framework for Aggregative Analysis”, Konstanzer Symposium on Monetary Theory and Monetary Policy, Vol. 1.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1972) “Friedman’s Monetary Theory”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 80, p.837-51. Reprinted in Gordon, 1974.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1972) “Money, Debt and Economic Activity”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 80, p.951-77.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1976) “An Aggregative Theory for a Closed Economy”, in J. Stein, editor, Monetarism. Amsterdam: North-Holland. Reprinted in Brunner and Meltzer, 1989.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1983) “Strategies and Tactics for Monetary Control”, Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Vol. 18, p.59-104.
K. Brunner and A.H. Meltzer (1989) Monetary Economics. Oxford: Blackwell.
P. Cagan (1956) “Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation”, in M. Friedman, editor, Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
P. Cagan (1965) Determinants and Effects of Changes in the Money Stock, 1875-1960. New York: Columbia University Press.
K.M. Carlson (1986) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization: Review and update”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 68 (Oct.), p.18-28.
J.L. Carr and M.R. Darby (1981) “The Role of Money Supply Shocks in the Short-Run Demand for Money”, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 8, 183-99.
G. Chow (1966) “On the Long-Run and Short-Run Demand for Money”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 74, p.111-31.
J.M. Culbertson (1960) “Friedman on the Lag in Effect of Monetary Policy”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 68, p.617-21.
L. Currie (1934) The Supply and Control of Money in the United States. Cambridge, Mass: ??
S. Fischer and F. Modigliani (1975) “Toward an Understanding of the Costs of Inflation”, Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy. Vol. 15, p.5-41.
I. Fisher (1911) The Purchasing Power of Money: Its determination and relation to credit, interest and crises. New York: Macmillan.
Agbo Stella Ukamaka
2016/237821
Economics/Philosophy
stellamk00@gmail.com
MONETARISM
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. The monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Concept of Monetarism
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Monetarists are certain the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future. Imagine adding more money to the current economy and the effects it would have on business expectations and the production of goods. Now imagine taking money away from the economy. What happens to supply and demand? At its most basic
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output .
Money Supply
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive this slows economic growth.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
Conclusion
In the current environment of persistently low equilibrium real interest rates, the presence of an effective lower bound severely impairs the ability of standard interest-rate policy to achieve satisfying macroeconomic stabilisation outcomes. The new environment does, however, not render monetary stabilisation policy per se ineffective. An even stronger reduction in the stabilisation costs can be obtained when the central bank’s monetary policy strategy contains a make-up element so that monetary policy aims to compensate for past inflation shortfalls by generating temporarily above-target inflation in the future. The considered remedies to the distortions induced by the effective lower bound are of course not without practical limitations. The efficacy of asset purchases is likely to be state-dependent.
The severity of prevailing financial impairments, and central bank asset purchases may face quantitative limits. The stabilising macroeconomic effects of forward guidance hinge on its credibility with the private sector and on the importance of forward-looking private-sector planning, in general. While we have proposed a practical way to deal with these issues in our simulations, developing alternative approaches, with a stronger theoretical foundation, would be an important area for future work. In a similar vein, if a central bank decides to apdot a make-up strategy it may face practical challenges that we abstract from in our model-based analysis. The effectiveness of a make-up strategy hinges on people’s understanding of how it makes future monetary policy and macroeconomic outcomes contingent on current economic conditions. Coherent and transparent central bank communication of the strategy is therefore pivotal for the make-up element to steer private sector expectations in the desired way. This is likely to be particularly challenging in the initial transition phase when people still have to learn and build trust into the new strategy.
Reg no 2019/249227
Economics education
Assignment on monetarist
The Economic School of Monetarism emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, When the economic system of capitalism replaced the economic system of feudalism (Karl Marx, 1857). In the economic system of capitalism trade and money grew significantly. A process not only accompanied the accumulation of capital goods (gold metal) bit also changed the structure of production. In the twentieth century, the Economic School of Monetarism developed under the influence of Milton Friedman’s ideas and led to the emergence of the Chicago School.
Economic freedom as a high goal is a means to achieve political freedom as a highest goal (Milton Friedman, 1961). The key points of the economic and political perspective of the Monetarism are discussed below.
The economic argument of the monetarist
The capitalist system is based on two important principles, one is free economy and the other is free trade. The market is the central nucleus of the economy (Mises, 1931). The experience of developed countries has shown that the principles governing the free and competitive market are able to pave the way for the growth and development of the private sector and reduce government interference in economic affairs (the optimal size of government). A healthy and strong private sector can be both an engine of economic growth (optimal use of resources) and a very effective factor in monitoring the powers of the public sector (maintaining individual freedoms). Government interference in economic affairs is justified under the pretext of growing national income and employment, especially given the volatile nature of the free market.
Under the monetary system of gold standard, government authority was severely curtailed and it was very difficult to manipulate the value of gold because the amount of money in circulation was related to the cost of exploration and extraction, i.e. gold production, and nothing else. The main weakness of the gold standard system was the limited flexibility of money, in the sense that the increase in monetary reserves depended on real reserves, i.e. gold reserves. For example, during the period of economic boom, when global production grew by 20%, gold production grew by only 5 to 6%. Dependence on real reserves for the supply of money (gold) had a severe recession on economic activity and eventually led to the failure of this monetary system. In the Bretton Woods monetary system (1944-1973), the US dollar replaced gold, and the flexibility of the money supply in the global economy increased, leading to a boom in economic activity (1944-1958). In the credit money system, it is possible to exert political influence in determining the value of money. The best way to strengthen the economic role of money is for people to monitor monetary policy, that is, to set rules and regulations that oblige the central bank to maintain its purchasing power. Monetary reserve growth can be a good measure of price control. According to the quantitative theory of money and according to neoclassical analysis, there is always a direct relationship between the volume of money (M) and the level of prices (P), if the speed of money circulation (V) and the growth of the amount of production(Ῡ)are determined.
P X Y = M X V → P = 1 = M X V
Y
According to Equation (1), the price level (P) is a function of the amount of money in circulation, i.e. the amount of money supply (M). According to Friedman, the supply of money affects not only prices but also national income.
M . V = P. V → P. V = GNP → M. V =GNP ⟹V = GNP
M
According to Equation (2), any change in the money supply will change the nominal value of GNP. The central bank must consider the real demand for money in money supply. There are two different views on the relationship between money demand and the value of money. While neoclassicists measure the value of money on the basis of the conversion of money into other commodities, namely the purchasing power of money, Keynesians define the value of money on the basis of monetary interest rate, the income that a person loses due to keeping money. If bank interest rates fall, then the transaction motive of money increases. Given the direct relationship
Name: Chibueze Manna Chioma
Course reg: 2019/244094
Department: Economics
Level: 200L
Assignment
Discuss Monetarist Macroeconomic System
Monetarist Macroeconomic System
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Milton Friedman is the father of Monetarism or the Monetary Theory. Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He believed that money demand function is the most important stake function in macroeconomics and argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Monetarists forethought that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. The belief is that if the Federal government were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Assumptions of the Monetarist System
●The antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
●Milton warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Federal government for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates. Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Friedman’s Modern Quantity Theory of Money
Friedman tried to find out why people choose to hold money instead of analyzing the specific motives for holding money as Keynes did. Friedman simply stated that the demand for money must be influenced by the same factors that influence the demand for any other asset. He then applied the theory asset demand for money. According to him, the demand for money should be function of the resources available to individuals (their wealth) the expected returns on other assets relative to the expected return on money. Like Keynes, Friedman recognized that people want holds certain amount of real money balances ( the quantity of money in real terms). Here, the demand for money is focused on what money can be used to achieve. It can be used as assets to regenerate or achieve or procure other services.
Md= f(rθ, rė, P, 1/p●dp/dt, w, W, U)
where, Md= money demand
rθ= return on investment
rė= return on capital
P= price level
1/p●dp/dt= rate on price as it changes overtime
w= ration on non- human changes on human changes overtime
W= wealth of household
U= tastes and preferences
Friedman’s concern was to show that velocity (demand for money) was a stable function of a limited number of key variables. His approach was to focus on the determinants of how much people will hold rather than the motive for holding more money. He viewed money as a kind of asset which yields the flow of service to its holders according to the function it p In 1956, Milton Friedman presented a performs. For example, money is one form of a number of forms in which people can choose to hold their wealth, since an individual can choose to hold durable goods/stocks as determined by key variables.
REFERENCES
Corporate Finance Institute. “Monetarism.”Sept. 9, 2020.
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.”Sept. 9, 2020.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “What Is the Money Supply? Is It Important?” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “Transcript of Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference, January 25, 2012,” Page 2. Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?” Accessed May 4, 2021.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Effective Federal Funds Rate.” Accessed May 5, 2021.
International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?” Accessed May 5, 2021.
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Name: Ugwu Silas Chinazaekpere
Department: Economics
Reg. No.: 2019/244182
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM AND THE MONETARIST SYSTEM🤞
Money Money Money!!!
What is money🙄
Emphasis on money’s importance gained sway in the 1970s
Just how important is money? Few would deny that it plays a key role in the economy.
One school of economic thought, called monetarism, maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy) is the chief determinant of current dollar GDP in the short run and the price level over longer periods. Monetary policy, one of the tools governments have to affect the overall performance of the economy, uses instruments such as interest rates to adjust the amount of money in the economy. Monetarists believe that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s—bringing down inflation in the United States and United Kingdom—and greatly influenced the U.S. central bank’s decision to stimulate the economy during the global recession of 2007–09.
Today, monetarism is mainly associated with Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. In his seminal work A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz in 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory.
AT ITS MOST BASIC
The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
THE QUANTITY THEORY IS THE BASIS FOR SEVERAL KEY TENETS AND PRESCRIPTIONS OF MONETARISM:
• LONG-RUN MONETARY NEUTRALITY: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• SHORT-RUN MONETARY NONNEUTRALITY: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• CONSTANT MONEY GROWTH RULE: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• INTEREST RATE FLEXIBILITY: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output
THE GREAT DEBATE
Although monetarism gained in importance in the 1970s, it was critiqued by the school of thought that it sought to supplant—Keynesianism. Keynesians, who took their inspiration from the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, believe that demand for goods and services is the key to economic output. They contend that monetarism falters as an adequate explanation of the economy because velocity is inherently unstable and attach little or no significance to the quantity theory of money and the monetarist call for rules. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to make the Fed slave to a preordained money target, they believe—the Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. Keynesians also do not believe that markets adjust to disruptions and quickly return to a full employment level of output.
Keynesianism held sway for the first quarter century after World War II. But the monetarist challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses, while Friedman and other monetarists argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply, making control of the money supply the key to good policy.
Monetarism had another triumph in Britain. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, Britain had endured several years of severe inflation. Thatcher implemented monetarism as the weapon against rising prices, and succeeded in halving inflation, to less than 5 percent by 1983.
But monetarism’s ascendance was brief. The money supply is useful as a policy target only if the relationship between money and nominal GDP, and therefore inflation, is stable and predictable. That is, if the supply of money rises, so does nominal GDP, and vice versa. To achieve that direct effect, though, the velocity of money must be predictable.
In the 1970s velocity increased at a fairly constant rate and it appeared that the quantity theory of money was a good one (see chart). The rate of growth of money, adjusted for a predictable level of velocity, determined nominal GDP. But in the 1980s and 1990s velocity became highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. The link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down, and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who had been convinced by monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
Most economists think the change in velocity’s predictability was primarily the result of changes in banking rules and other financial innovations. In the 1980s banks were allowed to offer interest-earning checking accounts, eroding some of the distinction between checking and savings accounts. Moreover, many people found that money markets, mutual funds, and other assets were better alternatives to traditional bank deposits. As a result, the relationship between money and economic performance changed.
RELEVANT STILL
Although most economists today reject the slavish attention to money growth that is at the heart of monetarist analysis, some important tenets of monetarism have found their way into modern nonmonetarist analysis, muddying the distinction between monetarism and Keynesianism that seemed so clear three decades ago. Probably the most important is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply, and controlling it should be a primary, if not the only, responsibility of the central bank.
Monetarism
Meaning: in simple terms ,it is the theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy.
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomics effects of the supply of money and central banking .
This theory was formulated by an American economists Milton Friedman, it argue that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary, and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
Monetarism or monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the shor-run and on price levels over longer periods.
Monetarist policy consists of two essential items
1. The acceptance of a monetary aggregate by the monetary authorities as their primary target.
2. The adoption of policies directed at producing a stable and predictable rate of growth in that monetary aggregate.
The theory of Monetarism was propounded by Milton Friedman due to the inflationary effects that excessive expansion or circulation of the money supply .
Monetarism is also an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth.
So as the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up.
An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, is an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
\begin{aligned} &MV = PQ \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &M = \text{money supply} \\ &V = \text{velocity (rate at which money changes hands)} \\ &P = \text{average price of a good or service} \\ &Q = \text{quantity of goods and services sold} \\ \end{aligned).
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.1
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.23
What Is the K-Percent Rule?
The K-Percent Rule, proposed by economist Milton Friedman, states that the central bank should increase the money supply by a set percentage every year..
Who Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money.
Name: Ogbuagu Chiamaka Rosita
Reg no: 2019/241915
Department: Economics
Course title: Introduction to macroeconomics 2
Course code: Eco204
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which controls the level of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Controlling Money Supply: The Fed has three main levers;
1. The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby, increasing the supply of money.
2. The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
3. Open Market Operation: Open Market Operation consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Understand Monetarist Theory: According to Monetarist Theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase and if the nation’s supply of money decreases, the economic activity will decrease. Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV=PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year), P is the price of goods and services, Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased either P,Q or both P and Q rise. General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at foster rate than P under monetarist theory. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices(low inflation) promoting full employment and achieving steady Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
Some of the benefits of Monetarist Theory system is that; it can bring out the possibility of more investments coming in and consumers spending more, it allows for the imposition of quantitative easing by central bank, it can lead to lower rates of mortgage payments, it can promote low inflation rates, it promotes transparency and predictability, it promotes political freedom.
Some of the disadvantages of Monetarist Theory system is that; it does not guarantee economy recovery, it is not that useful during global recessions, its ability to cut interest rates is not a guarantee, it can take time to be implemented, it could discourage business expand.
The benefits/advantages and disadvantages can be explained properly below:
Advantages of Monetary Policy
It can bring out the possibility of more investments coming in and consumers spending more.
In an expansionary monetary policy, where banks are lowering interest rates on loans and mortgages, more business owners would be encouraged to expand their ventures, as they would have more available funds to borrow with affordable interest rates. Plus, prices of commodities would also be lowered, so consumers will have more reasons to purchase more goods. As a result, businesses would gain more profit while consumers can afford basic commodities, services and even property.
It allows for the imposition of quantitative easing by the Central Bank.
The Federal Reserve can make use of a monetary policy to create or print more money, allowing them to purchase government bonds from banks and resulting to increased monetary base and cash reserves in banks. This also means lower interest rates and, eventually, more money for financial institutions to lend its borrowers.
It can lead to lower rates of mortgage payments.
As monetary policy would lower interest rates, it would also mean lower payments home owners would be required for the mortgage of their houses, leaving homeowners more money to spend on other important things. It would also mean that consumers will be able to settle their monthly payments regularly—a win-win situation for creditors, merchandisers and property investors as well!
It can promote low inflation rates.
One of the biggest perks of monetary policy is that it can help promote stable prices, which are very helpful in ensuring inflation rates will stay low throughout the country and even the world. As inflation essentially makes an impact on the way we spend money and how much money is worth, a low inflation rate would allow us to make the best financial decisions in life without worrying about prices to drastically rise unexpectedly.
It promotes transparency and predictability.
A monetary policy would oblige policymakers to make announcements that are believable to consumers and business owners in terms of the type of policy to be expected in the future.
It promotes political freedom.
Since the central bank can operate separately from the government, this will allow them to make the best decisions based upon how the economy is performing doing at a certain point in time. Also, the banks would operate based on hard facts and data, rather than the wants and needs of certain individuals. Even the Federal Reserve can operate without being exposed to political influences.
Disadvantages of Monetary Policy
It does not guarantee economy recovery.
Economists who criticize the Federal Reserve on imposing monetary policy argue that, during recessions, not all consumers would have the confidence to spend and take advantage of low interest rates, making it a disadvantage.
It is not that useful during global recessions.
Proponents of expansionary monetary policy state that even if banks lower interest rates for consumers to spend more money during a global recession, the export sector would suffer. If this is the case, export losses would be more than what commercial organizations could earn from their sales.
Its ability to cut interest rates is not a guarantee.
Though a monetary policy is said to allow banks to enjoy lower interest rates from the Central Bank when they borrow money, some of them might have the funds, which means that there would be insufficient funds that people can borrow from them.
It can take time to be implemented.
With things expected to be done immediately in these modern times, implementing a monetary can certainly take time, unlike other types of policies, such as a fiscal policy, that can help push more money into the economy faster. According to experts, changes that are made for a monetary policy might take years before they begin to take place and make changes felt, especially when it comes to inflation.
It could discourage businesses to expand.
With this policy, interest rates can still increase, making businesses not willing to expand their operations, resulting to less production and eventually higher prices. While consumers would not be able to afford goods and services, it would take a long time for businesses to recover and even cause them to close up shop. Workers would then lose their jobs.
REFERENCES:
http://www.investopedia.com_monetarytheory Will Kenton, updated March 23, 2021 reviewed by Charles Potters
futureofworking_advantages and disadvantages of Monetarist Theory system
Name: Anya-Awa Oma Ucheoma
Reg no: 2019/246475
Department: Combined social sciences (Economics/psychology)
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
• Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
• Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
• Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
• Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible too.
2019/244261
Chidobelu Yonna Raluchukwu
yonnachidobelu@gmail.com
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
Interest rate flexibility
Short-run monetary nonneutrality
Constant money growth rule
Long-run monetary neutrality
2019/244235
Chidubem Joshua
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
Interest rate flexibility
Short-run monetary nonneutrality
Constant money growth rule
Long-run monetary neutrality
Registration number : 2029/250111
Firstly monetary policy is an important economic tool used by government to foster economic growth by manipulating the growth rate of money supply.
Economist are of the opinion that supply of money, is major influencer of economic stability leading to economic growth. The macroeconomic monetary policy is a useful and efficient equipment that government uses to control aggregate demand of goods and services . An increase in the aggregate demand would lead high production capacity, and also creation of job opportunities in return reducing unemployment leading to economic growth.
Government can apply monetary policy by adjusting interest rate . The Nigerian government can decide to either increase or reduce interest rate through the help of central bank of Nigeria. This would have an effect on consumer goods and individual marginal propensity to consume.
When there is an increase in interest rate, individual tend towards savings than consumption reducing the aggregate demand for money at hand vise versa. Interest doesn’t only effect the demand for money but also the effect of the multiplier.
Monetary policy is largely associated with an economist called Milton Friedman. Who propounded the theory of quantity theory of money. He suggested that the government should apply his theory by keeping the supply of money fairly steady, increasing it slightly to encourage natural economic growth.
Excessive supply of money bring about inflation , it would put the Economy in state in which a lot of money would be chasing fewer goods. According to the laws of demand and supply the higher the supply the lower the quantity demand applied to supply of money the higher the supply of money the lower the purchasing power.
Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the k percent rule, this rule suggested that money supply should grow at annual rate linked with nominal gross domestic product ( GDP ) at expressed at a fix percentage per year.
The k percent rule would be adequate in assisting with planning by both the private and government sector of the economy.
Central to monetarism is the ” quantity theory of money “ which was adopted and inputted into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be expressed in an equation , which is money supplied multiple by velocity of money ( the rate at which money change hand ) equal to the average prices of goods and services multiplied by output ( total quantity of goods and services ) . This equation was given by John Stuart mill as MV=PQ.
M is supply of money
V is velocity of money
P is average prices of goods and services
Q is output
The variables in this equation share a relationship, because a change in M, either an Increase or decrease would lead to change in either P or Q
In conclusion the role of monetary can not be over emphasize, and it still remains an optimal tool to the government in stabilizing the economy and bringing economic growth till date .
Name: Aniukwu chisom Sylvia
Reg.No: 2019/243386
Department: Economics
course code/Title: Eco 204/Macroeconomic theory ll
Monetarist Macro Economic System
Monetarist macro economic system is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy.Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.Monetarism,today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticise Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”.
Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve,Friedman advocated, given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.
This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money.While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes.
With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilise than stabilise the economy.
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. lnterestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930’s on the federal reserve . The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression that took place from the late 1920s through the 1930s. For decades, debates went on about what caused the economic catastrophe, and economists remain split over a number of different schools of thought. of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV= PQ
where:
M= money supply
V = velocity(rate at which money changes hands)
P= average price of goods and services
Q = quantity of goods and services sold
key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable. Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so. Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in markets.
Characteristics of monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
* The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
* The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves. Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help. Laissez faire is often the best advice.
* The Federal government should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
* Fiscal Policy is often bad policy.
Main Points or critical evaluation
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
* An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDPGross Domestic Product (GDP)Gross domestic product (GDP) is a standard measure of a country’s economic health and an indicator of its standard of living. Also, GDP can be used to compare the productivity levels between different countries.) and employment levels.
* The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
* The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
References
^ a b Phillip Cagan, 1987. “Monetarism”, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, Reprinted in John Eatwell et al. (1989), Money: The New Palgrave, pp. 195–205, 492–97.
^ Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691003542. OCLC 994352014.
^ Doherty, Brian (June 1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
^ Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90. Web.|date=October 2013
^ Bordo, Michael D. (1989). “The Contribution of A Monetury History”. Money, History, & International Finance: Essays in Honor of Anna J. Schwartz. The Increase in Reserve Requirements, 1936-37. University of Chicago Press. p. 46. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.736.9649. ISBN 0-226-06593-6. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
^ Thomas Palley (November 27, 2006). “Milton Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
^ Ip, Greg; Whitehouse, Mark (2006-11-17). “How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets”. The Wall Street Journal.
^ “Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 27: Milton Friedman’s Second Thoughts on the Costs of Paper Money”. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012.
^ a b Friedman, Milton (1970). “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis”. Journal of Political Economy. 78 (2): 193–238 [p. 210]. doi:10.1086/259623. JSTOR 1830684.
^ Reichart Alexandre & Abdelkader Slifi (2016). ‘The Influence of Monetarism on Federal Reserve Policy during the 1980s.’ Cahiers d’économie Politique/Papers in Political Economy, (1), pp. 107–50. https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-d-economie-politique-2016-1-page-107.htm
^ Milton Friedman; Anna Schwartz (2008). The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 (New Edition). Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13794-0.
Monetarist or monetarism focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and the role of banking on an economic system.Clark Warburton in 1945,has been identified as the first thinker to draft an empirically sound argument in favour of monetarism.Historical implementation of monetarism demonstrated some connection with control over inflation rates and increased economic performance.Thus Austrian school of thought percieves monetarism as a somewhat narrow-minded not effectively taking into account the subjectivity involved in valuing capital.Due to the globalization of the economy, monetarism may have negative effect on the external economies.Clark Warburton in 1945 who was identified as the first thinker to draft an empirically sound argument in favour of monetarism,more elaborations was done by MILTON FRUEDMANN in 1955.Their basic premise was that the supply of money and the role of central banking is a critical role in macroeconomics.The generation of this theory takes into account a combination of Keynesian monetary perspectives and Friedmann pursuit of Price stability.Theoetically the idea is actually straight forward.When the supply of money is expanded,individuals will be induced to higher spending in turn when money supply retaracts individuals would limit their budgetary spending accordingly.This would theoretically provide some control over aggregate demand.Monetarism began to deviate from Keynesian economics however in the 70’s and 80’s,as active implementation and historical reflection began to generate more evidence for the monetarist view.The 1980’s were an interesting transitional period for this perspective,as early in the decade (1980-1983) monetary policies controlling Capital were attributed to substantial reductions in inflation (14%-3%).
There were some school of thought in the 1980’s the arose to become critics of monetarism,the Austrian school of thought is the most known.It percieves monetarism as somewhat narrow-minded,not effectively taking into account the subjectivity involved in valuing capital.That is to say that monetarism seems to assume an objective value of capital in an economy and the subsequent implications on supply and demand.
Name: Chibueze Manna Chioma
Course reg: 2019/244094
Department: Economics
Level: 200L
Assignment
Discuss Monetarist Macroeconomic System
Monetarist Macroeconomic System
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Milton Friedman is the father of Monetarism or the Monetary Theory. Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He believed that money demand function is the most important stake function in macroeconomics and argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Monetarists forethought that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match. The belief is that if the Federal government were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Assumptions of the Monetarist System
●The antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
●Milton warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Federal government for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates. Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Friedman’s Modern Quantity Theory of Money
Friedman tried to find out why people choose to hold money instead of analyzing the specific motives for holding money as Keynes did. Friedman simply stated that the demand for money must be influenced by the same factors that influence the demand for any other asset. He then applied the theory asset demand for money. According to him, the demand for money should be function of the resources available to individuals (their wealth) the expected returns on other assets relative to the expected return on money. Like Keynes, Friedman recognized that people want holds certain amount of real money balances ( the quantity of money in real terms). Here, the demand for money is focused on what money can be used to achieve. It can be used as assets to regenerate or achieve or procure other services.
Md= f(rθ, rė, P, 1/p●dp/dt, w, W, U)
where, Md= money demand
rθ= return on investment
rė= return on capital
P= price level
1/p●dp/dt= rate on price as it changes overtime
w= ration on non- human changes on human changes overtime
W= wealth of household
U= tastes and preferences
Friedman’s concern was to show that velocity (demand for money) was a stable function of a limited number of key variables. His approach was to focus on the determinants of how much people will hold rather than the motive for holding more money. He viewed money as a kind of asset which yields the flow of service to its holders according to the function it p In 1956, Milton Friedman presented a performs. For example, money is one form of a number of forms in which people can choose to hold their wealth, since an individual can choose to hold durable goods/stocks as determined by key variables.
REFERENCES
Corporate Finance Institute. “Monetarism.”Sept. 9, 2020.
The Library of Economics and Liberty. “Monetarism.”Sept. 9, 2020.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “What Is the Money Supply? Is It Important?” Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “Transcript of Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference, January 25, 2012,” Page 2. Accessed Sept. 9, 2020.
International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?” Accessed May 4, 2021.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Effective Federal Funds Rate.” Accessed May 5, 2021.
International Monetary Fund. “What Is Monetarism?” Accessed May 5, 2021.
.
Monetarist theory or monetarism is an approach to economics that centres on the money supply, the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and Bills but also banks. The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is more than any other factors affecting the economy.
The theorical basis for monetarism is a mathematical equation known as the equation of exchange: MV=PQ.
M in this equation, represents the supply of money and V represents the velocity of money, or the rate at which the basic unit of currency ( Such as dollar) changes hands. P stands for the level of prices in the economy and Q for the quantity of goods and services in the economy.
Monetarists uses this equation to argue that M increases if V remains constant, then either P or Q will increase. It follows that the size of money supply has a direct relationship to both prices and production and also employment, since the number of people who have jobs will vary according to how much companies are producing and how much money they can charge for the items they produce.
According to monetarist theory, inflation is always caused by too much money in circulation. Money, like other products for sale in the economy, is subject to the forces of supply and demand. When there’s too much money in circulation, the demand for money is low and it loses value and when there’s not enough money in circulation, the demand for money is high and it gains value. Monetarists believe that if governments central bank can keep the supply and demand for money balanced, then inflation can be controlled. However, as the amount and value of products generated by the economy increases, the money supply should increase proportionately. If this happens, inflation will remain low.
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2019/241722
MONETARIST THEORY
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that posits that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. It is of the view that money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Milton Friedman is believed to be the father of Monetarism. He popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
Several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
REFERENCES
Kimberly Amado. (2021). Monetarism Explained. Retrieved February 4, 2022. https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
Sarmat Jahard and Chris Papageorgin.(2014). What is Monetarism?: Finance and Development. Retrieved February 4, 2022. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandel/2014/03/basics.htm
Will Kenton. (2021). Monetarist Theory: What is Monetarism. Retrieved February 4 2022. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarists believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That could increase interest rates.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Monetarism has recently gone out of favor. Money supply has become a less useful measure of liquidity than in the past.
However, the money supply does not measure other assets, such as stocks, commodities and home equity. People are more likely to save money by investing in the stock market because they receive a better return.
That means the money supply does not measure these assets. If the stock market rises, people feel wealthy and are inclined to spend more. An increase in spending increases demands, which boosts the economy.
Stocks, commodities and home equity created economic booms that the Fed (the Federal Reserve) ignored. The Great Recession was fueled in part by the creation of a housing market bubble (home values rising, loans being approved for people who couldn’t afford them, and money being made by investors on the loans), which burst and took much of the economy with it.
How It Works
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve manages the money supply with the Federal funds rate. This is a targeted rate the Fed sets for banks to charge each other for overnight loans, and it impacts all other interest rates. The Fed uses other monetary tools, such as open market operations, buying and selling government securities to reach the target federal funds rate.
The Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. This is known as contractionary monetary policy. However, the Fed must be careful not to tip the economy into recession. To avoid recession, and the resultant unemployment, the Fed must lower the fed funds rate and increase the money supply. This is known as expansionary monetary policy.
Milton Friedman popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association. He said that the antidote to inflation was higher interest rates, which in turn reduces the money supply. Prices then fall as people would have less money to spend.
Milton also warned against increasing the money supply too fast, which would be counter-productive by creating inflation. But a gradual increase is necessary to prevent higher unemployment rates.
The belief is that if the Fed were to properly manage the money supply and inflation, it would theoretically create a Goldilocks economy, where low unemployment and an acceptable level of inflation are prevalent.
Friedman (and others) blamed the Fed for the Great Depression. As the value of the dollar fell, the Fed tightened the money supply when it should have loosened it. They raised interest rates to defend the value of the dollar as people redeemed their paper currency for gold. Money supply dwindled, and loans became harder to get. The recession then worsened into a depression.
Examples of Monetarism
Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker used the concept of monetarism to end stagflation (high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant demand). By raising the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980, the money supply was reduced drastically, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. That ended the out-of-control inflation, but it helped create the 1980-82 recession.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke agreed with Milton’s suggestion that the Fed cultivate mild inflation. He was the first Fed chair to set an official inflation target of 2% year-over-year. He felt that a higher inflation rate would make it more difficult for consumers to make long-term spending decisions and a lower inflation rate could lead to deflation.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Monetarist Theory – Equation
M * V= P * Q
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
Monetarism – Main Points
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic well-being.
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Economics Education
Eco 204
Monetarism is the theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy. According to Milton Friedman, Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effect of the supply of money and central banking. Formulated by Milton Friedman, it argues that excessive expansion of the money supply is inherently inflationary and that monetary authorities should focus solely on maintaining price stability.
Monetarism school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency and bank deposit) is the chief determination demand side of short run economics activities. American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as a montarism leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarist advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became known during the 1970’s and 80’s. The monetarist equation is expressed as MV=PQ where M is the supply of money, where V is the velocity at which many is been supplied in the country.
P is the average price level at which each of the goods and services is Sold and Q is the quantity of goods and services produced.
The equation MV=PQ explains that as money supply increases with a constant and predictable V one can expect an increase in either price or quantity. An increase in quantity means that price will remain relatively constant, whereas an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity increase in quantity of goods and services produced. Therefore when there is a change In money supply, it directly affect and determine production employment and price levels . The effects of changes in the money supply, however become manifest only after a significant period of time.
The monetarism theory also says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth .As the money supply increases people demand more . Factories produce more and creating new jobs. The monetarist warns that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and Job creation . But in the long-run increasing money supply increases inflation, as demand outstrip supply, prices will rise to make a monetarist believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy. Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt. That would increase interest rate..
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONETARISM
The theoretical foundationis the quantity theory of money.
The economy is inherently stable. Market works well when left to themselves.
The fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy.
Fiscal policy y often a bad policy.
TENETS OF MONETARISM
The monetarist believe the economy is self regulating.
Changes in velocity and the money supply can change aggregate demand.
Changes in the velocity and the money supply will change the price level and the real GDP in the short run but only if the price level in the long run.
The monetarist believe monetary policy is more effective fiscal policy
They also said that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply
They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than normal rate
They view velocity as generally stable. Which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply.
L.C. Anderson and K. Carlson (1970) “A Monetarist Model for Economic Stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Vol. 52 (4), p.7-25.
L.C. Anderson and J.L. Jordan (1968) “Monetary and Fiscal Actions: A test of their relative importance in economic stabilization”, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Vol. 50 (Nov), p.11-24.
A. Ando and F. Modigliani (1965) “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier”, American Economic Review, Vol. 55, p.693-728.
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DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
COURSE: ECO 204
ANALYSIS OF THE MONETARIST THEORY AND THEIR TENETS
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Monetary theory is a set of ideas about how changes in the money supply impact levels of economic activity.
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory, which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Characteristics of Monetarism
-The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
-The economy is inherently stable. Markets work well when left to themselves.
– Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help
The father of monetarist theory Milton Friedman was one of the leading economic voices of the latter half of the 20th century and popularized many economic ideas that are still important today. Friedman’s economic theories became what is known as monetarism, which refuted important parts of Keynesian economics.
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation
What Is Monetary Policy?
Monetary policy is a set of actions available to a nation’s central bank to achieve sustainable economic growth by adjusting the money supply. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
Monetarists argue that if the Money Supply rises faster than the rate of growth of national income, then there will be inflation. … “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.
What Is a Tight Monetary Policy?
A tight monetary policy refers to central bank policy aimed at cooling down an overheated economy and features higher interest rates and tighter money supply.
Federal Reserve System (FRS)
The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States and provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable financial system.
Monetarism has several key tenets:
Control of the money supply is the key to setting business expectations and fighting inflation’s effects. Market expectations about inflation influence forward interest rates. … A natural unemployment rate exists; trying to lower the unemployment rate below that rate causes inflation.
The basic policy conclusion of the monetarist
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula:
MV = PQ,
where M is the money supply,
V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent),
P is the price of goods and services and
Q is the quantity of goods and services.
Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
HOW To CONTROL MONEY SUPPLY
In the U.S for example, it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
-The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
-The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
-Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
NOTE THAT: According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
THE MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM AND THEIR TENETS
WHAT IS MONETARISM?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis.
UNDERSTANDING MONETARISM
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
HISTORY OF MONETARISM
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non monetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
REAL WORLD EXAMPLES OF MONETARISM
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
In 1979, when Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he made combatting inflation the primary goal of the central bank. In keeping with Friedman and Schwartz’s recommendations, Volcker restricted the money supply in order to do this. He raised the federal funds rate to 20% in 1980. At this time, this strategy for fighting stagflation (high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand) was successful. Volcker’s policies drastically reduced the money supply, consumers stopped purchasing as much, and businesses stopped raising prices. However, while this caused inflation to greatly decline, it resulted in a big recession (the 1980-82 recession).
During the same time period, Britain was also struggling with severe inflation. When Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, she also implemented a set of monetarist policies to combat the rising prices in the country. By 1983, inflation in Britain had been halved, from 10% to 5%.
However, the popularity of monetarism was relatively brief. In the 1980s and 1990s, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down; the quantity theory of money—the backbone of monetarism—was called into question and many economists who had recommended the policies of monetarism in the 1970s abandoned the approach.
THE MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
EXAMPLE OF MONETARIST THEORY
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
THE BASIC TENETS OF MONETARISM
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
OGBONNA CHIJIOKE MICHAEL
2019/244473
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, 18671960, and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association. Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States. Monetary economics can make good use of received theory in other fields, like finance and public economics (Wallace,1984).
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth. Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy the expansion or contraction of the money supply is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy the governments taxation and spending activities.
What is Monetarist System?
The monetarist system is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Monetarism is also a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on national output in the short run and on price levels over longer periods. Monetarists assert that the objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. Monetarism is commonly associated with neoliberalism.
Monetarism today is mainly associated with the work of Milton Friedman, who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and then criticize Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote an influential book, A Monetary History of the United States, 18671960, and argued “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”. Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated given its existence, a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods. This theory draws its roots from two historically antagonistic schools of thought: the hard money policies that dominated monetary thinking in the late 19th century, and the monetary theories of John Maynard Keynes, who, working in the inter-war period during the failure of the restored gold standard, proposed a demand-driven model for money. While Keynes had focused on the stability of a currency’s value, with panics based on an insufficient money supply leading to the use of an alternate currency and collapse of the monetary system, Friedman focused on price stability.
The result was summarised in a historical analysis of monetary policy, Monetary History of the United States 18671960, which Friedman coauthored with Anna Schwartz. The book attributed inflation to excess money supply generated by a central bank. It attributed deflationary spirals to the reverse effect of a failure of a central bank to support the money supply during a liquidity crunch.
Friedman originally proposed a fixed monetary rule, called Friedman’s k-percent rule, where the money supply would be automatically increased by a fixed percentage per year. Under this rule, there would be no leeway for the central reserve bank, as money supply increases could be determined “by a computer”, and business could anticipate all money supply changes. With other monetarists he believed that the active manipulation of the money supply or its growth rate is more likely to destabilize than stabilize the economy.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant. A key principle, laid out first in the introduction to Kareken and Wallace (1980), and elaborated in Wallace (1998), is that progress can be made in monetary theory and policy analysis only by modeling monetary arrangements explicitly. In line with the arguments of Lucas (1976), to conduct a policy experiment in an economic model, it must be invariant to the experiment under consideration.
How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates. For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy. When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the equation of exchange (also referred to as the quantity theory of money) (Lucas, 1976). Although the equations become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follow, it is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise (Friedman, 1969). General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Differences Between Monetarist Macroeconomics System & Keynesian Economics System
Monetarist economics is Milton Friedman’s direct criticism of Keynesian economics theory, formulated by John Maynard Keynes. Simply put, the difference between these theories is that monetarist economics involves the control of money in the economy, while Keynesian economics involves government expenditures. Monetarists believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy while allowing the rest of the market to fix itself. In contrast, Keynesian economists believe that a troubled economy continues in a downward spiral unless an intervention drives consumers to buy more goods and services. Both of these macroeconomic theories directly impact the way lawmakers create fiscal and monetary policies. If both types of economists were equated to motorists, monetarists would be most concerned with adding gasoline to their tanks, while Keynesians would be most concerned with keeping their motors running.
Keynesian Economics, Simplified
The terminology of demand-side economics is synonymous with Keynesian economics. Keynesian economists believe the economy is best controlled by manipulating the demand for goods and services (Thomas, 2006). However, these economists do not completely disregard the role the money supply has in the economy and on affecting the gross domestic product, or GDP. Yet, they do believe it takes a great amount of time for the economic market to adjust to any monetary influence. Keynesian economists believe in consumption, government expenditures and net exports to change the state of the economy. Fans of this theory may also enjoy the New Keynesian economic theory, which expands upon this classical approach. The New Keynesian theory arrived in the 1980s and focuses on government intervention and the behavior of prices. Both theories are a reaction to depression economics.
Monetarist Economics Made Easy
Monetarists are certain the money supply is what controls the economy, as their name implies. They believe that controlling the supply of money directly influences inflation and that by fighting inflation with the supply of money, they can influence interest rates in the future. Imagine adding more money to the current economy and the effects it would have on business expectations and the production of goods. Now imagine taking money away from the economy. What happens to supply and demand? Monetarist economics founder Milton Friedman believed the monetary policy was so incredibly crucial to a healthy economy that he publicly blamed the Federal Reserve for causing the Great Depression. He implied it is up to the Federal Reserve to regulate the economy.
References
Aruoba, B. (2009). Money, Search and Business Cycles, working paper, University of Maryland.
Doherty, Brian (1995). “Best of Both Worlds”. Reason. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
Friedman, M. (1969). The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays, Aldine Publishing Company, New York.
Friedman, M. and Schwartz, A. (1963). A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
Kareken, J. and Wallace, N. (1980). Models of Monetary Economies, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN.
Lucas, R. (1976). Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique, Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy 1, 19-46.
Thomas Palley (2006). “Milton Friedman: The Great Conservative Partisan”. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Wallace, N. (1980). The Overlapping Generations Model of Fiat Money, in Models of Monetary Economies, J. Kareken and N. Wallace, eds., Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN.
Wallace, N. 1998. A Dictum for Monetary Theory,” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review, Winter, 20-26.
Wright, R. 2010. “A Uniqueness Proof for Monetary Steady State,” Journal of Economic Theory, 145, 382-39
OGBUEHI CHINAZAEKPERE ESTHER
ECONOMICS MAJOR
ECO 204 ASSIGNMENT
Monetarism is an economic theory that focuses on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and central banking. It is a school of thought that emphasizes long and short run monetary non-neutrality distinction between real and normal interest rates and the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. Thus system theory is particularly associated with American Economist Milton Friedman. In this system, economists hold the strong belief that money supply (including physical currency, deposits and credit) is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy.
Underlying the monetarist macroeconomic theory is the equation of exchange which is expressed as MV=PQ.
Where M= Supply of money
V= Velocity of turnover of money
P= Price level
Q= Qty of goods and services.
REFERENCES.
http://www.britannica.com/economics encyclopedia Britannica
http://www.investopedia.com
http://www.econlib.com
ECO 202 and 204 notes.
NAME: Egbe Blessing Ngozika
REG.NO: 2019/241024
History of Monetarism
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s, a decade characterized by high and rising inflation and slow economic growth. The policies of monetarism were responsible for bringing down inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom. After U.S. inflation peaked at 20% in 1979, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory. During this time period, economists, governments, and investors eagerly jumped at every new money supply statistic.
monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary.
1.Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply.
2.Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
American economist Milton Friedman is generally regarded as monetarism’s leading exponent. Friedman and other monetarists like Philip D. Cagan, Karl Burnner,Alan Greenspan etc advocate a macroeconomic theory and policy that diverge significantly from those of the formerly dominant Keynesian school. The monetarist approach became influential during the 1970s and early ’80s.
BASIC POSTULATION OF MONETARISM
1. monetarism, school of economic thought that maintains that the money supply (the total amount of money in an economy, in the form of coin, currency, and bank deposits) is the chief determinant on the demand side of short-run economic activity.
2. It also states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
3. Interest Rate
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
4. Supply of Money
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
5.Economic stability
Friedman contended that the government should seek to promote economic stability, but only by controlling the rate of growth of the money supply. It could achieve this by following a simple rule that stipulates that the money supply be increased at a constant annual rate tied to the potential growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and expressed as a percentage (e.g., an increase from 3 to 5 percent).
6. Opposition to the gold standard
Most monetarists oppose the gold standard. Friedman, for example, viewed a pure gold standard as impractical. For example, whereas one of the benefits of the gold standard is that the intrinsic limitations to the growth of the money supply by the use of gold would prevent inflation, if the growth of population or increase in trade outpaces the money supply, there would be no way to counteract deflation and reduced liquidity (and any attendant recession) except for the mining of more gold.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.
Underlying the monetarist theory is the equation of exchange, which is expressed as
MV = PQ.
Here
M = the supply of money
V = the velocity of turnover of money (i.e., the number of times per year that the average dollar in the money supply is spent for goods and services)
P = the average price level at which each of the goods and services is sold
Q = represents the quantity of goods and services produced.
The monetarists believe that the direction of causation is from left to right in the equation; that is, as the money supply increases with a constant and predictable V, one can expect an increase in either P or Q. An increase in Q means that P will remain relatively constant, while an increase in P will occur if there is no corresponding increase in the quantity of goods and services produced. In short, a change in the money supply directly affects and determines production, employment, and price levels. The effects of changes in the money supply, however, become manifest only after a significant period of time.
Economic Growth is function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in market.
One monetarist policy conclusion is the rejection of fiscal policy in favour of a “monetary rule.” In A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960 (1963), Friedman, in collaboration with Anna J. Schwartz, presented a thorough analysis of the U.S. money supply from the end of the Civil War to 1960. This detailed work influenced other economists to take monetarism seriously.
CONCLUSION
Monetarism thus posited that the steady, moderate growth of the money supply could in many cases ensure a steady rate of economic growth with low inflation. Monetarism’s linking of economic growth with rates of increase of the money supply was proved incorrect, however, by changes in the U.S. economy during the 1980s. First, new and hybrid types of bank deposits obscured the kinds of savings that had traditionally been used by economists to calculate the money supply. Second, a decline in the rate of inflation caused people to spend less, which thereby decreased velocity (V). These changes diminished the ability to predict the effects of money growth on growth of nominal GDP.
Monetarists argued that central banks sometimes caused major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They asserted that actively increasing demand through the central bank can have negative unintended consequences.
REFERENCE
1. Friedman, Milton (2008). Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press
2. Mankiw, N. Gregory. “Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3.3 (1989): 79–90.
3. Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 27: Milton Friedman’s Second Thoughts on the Costs of Paper Money”.
4.www.wikipedia.com
5.www.investopedia.com
6.www.britannica.com
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. The government can increase economic growth by supply of more money in the economy. When the availability of money increases in the economy, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. In this state there will be job creation and opportunities and the rate of unemployment will reduce.
Monetarism is also the supply of more money in the economy by the government to increase or improve the economic growth.
Monetary policy is an economic tool used in monetarism. Monetary policy is a set of actions available to a nation’s central bank to achieve sustainable economic growth by adjusting the money supply.
A monetarist is someone who believes an economy should be controlled predominantly by the supply of money. Some examples of monetarists are Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan.
Monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and behaviour of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levels of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates. According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV=PQ formula, i n which M= money supply, V= velocity of money, P= price of goods, and Q= quantity of goods and services.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production and employment.
REFERENCE
CBN (1992). Monetary Policy Department:
http://www.cenbank.org:1Central Bank
of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin for
several issues:
http://www.cenbank.org/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetar
ism.asp
Investopedia Encyclopedia (2021). Monetarism
and Monetarist Theory. Retrieved from
site date 3/02/2022.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinants if economic growth.it is implemented to adjust interest rates that in turn control the money supply.milton Friedman formulated this theory.he asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.central to the monetarism is the quantity theory of money supply (m) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year equals the nominal expenditure in the economy.
Milton argued that Government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the growth of the economy.
TENETS OF MONETARIST SYSTEM
1)monetarist believe that the largest effect of money supply change is on inflation rather than real macro variables.
2)changes in the nominal stock of money are the dominant cause of changes in money income.
3) there’s no long trade off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
4) Monetarist believed that all monetary magnitudes would move in similar ways.
5) inflation can’t continue Indefinitely with out increase in the money supply, which is the responsibility of the central bank.
REFERENCE
Corporate Finance Institute. “Monetarism.” Accessed February 6,2021
2018/245945
Izuagba Benjamin
izuagbabenjamin@gmail.com
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth
Economic tool such as monetary policy is been used to control interest rate,which in turn control money supply
According to Milton Friedman who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady,for the natural expansion of the national economy,his argument was based on quantity theory of money
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
Interest rate flexibility
Short-run monetary nonneutrality
Constant money growth rule
Long-run monetary neutrality
Ezeugwu Chidera Paul…. 2019/241560…. Paulchidera24@gmail.com
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year.
He went ahead to say that it will bring about a steady rise in the economy and businesses can be able to plan ahead with lower inflationary rates
John Stuart Mill, summarized the quantity theory of money in an equation called the
The equation of exchange which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
on
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Tenets of moneterist system
Interest rate flexibility
Short-run monetary nonneutrality
Constant money growth rule
Long-run monetary neutrality
Monetarism deals on the macroeconomic effects of the supply of money and the role of the central banking on an economic system. Monetarism is mainly associated with the works of Milton Friedman,who was among the generation of economists to accept Keynesian economics and criticize Keynes’s theory of fighting economic downturns using fiscal policy (government spending). Though he opposed the existence of the Federal Reserve, Friedman advocated, given its existence,a central bank policy aimed at keeping the growth of the money supply at a rate commensurate with the growth in productivity and demand for goods.(WIKIPEDIA).
It is a theory which states that government can foster economic stability by aiming the growth rate of the money supply rather than by engaging in discretionary monetary policy. The monetarists believes that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
According to Investopedia,it is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinant of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. This theory views velocity as generally stable which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity ( the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).(INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND).
Department of Economics
Innocent Love Ihunanya
2019/251037
Monetarist macroeconomics system is with the belief that the money supply in an economy is the main determinant of economic growth. It states that,the money supply (M) multipled by the rate at which money is spent yearly (V) equals the nominal expenditure (P*Q) in the economy.
Monetarist system is closely associated with the economist ‘ Milton Friedman’ who argued that government should make sure that money supply is kept fairly steady to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
As money supply increases, the aggregate demand for goods and services also increases and at such create/encourages job creation which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
There is also a monetary policy in monetarist system, which is an economic tool used to adjust interest rates and in turn control the money supply.
Reference:
Investopedia, July 25,2021……………… Monetarism
Wikipedia, January 5,2022………………… Monetarism
Ezeh Patrick Ezenwa
2019/244053
Monetarism according to Milton Friedman can be seen as a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Friedman argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, that is expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy. It focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Monetarism is also a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in non-monetarist analysis.
Monetary policy, is an economic tool which is used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Also central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
Its important to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Edwin Chinedu Augustine
2019/249508
Eco/204
Monetarism
By OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH Updated July 25, 2021
Reviewed by ERIC ESTEVEZ
Fact checked by DANIEL RATHBURN
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in market.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
Monetarist Theory
By WILL KENTON Updated March 23, 2021
Reviewed by CHARLES POTTERS
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Reference
OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH Updated July 25, 2021.
ERIC ESTEVEZ
DANIEL RATHBURN
By WILL KENTON Updated March 23, 2021
Reviewed by CHARLES POTTERS
Source
Investopedia.com
Monetarism
By OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH Updated July 25, 2021
Reviewed by ERIC ESTEVEZ
Fact checked by DANIEL RATHBURN
What Is Monetarism?
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory stating that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.
Central to monetarism is the quantity theory of money, which states that the money supply (M) multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year (V) equals the nominal expenditures (P * Q) in the economy.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Understanding Monetarism
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.
Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q.
An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics
The view that velocity is constant is a source of contention among Keynesians, who believe that velocity should not be constant since the economy is volatile and subject to periodic instability. Instead, Keynes’ liquidity preference theory emphasizes how changes in money demand (and thus velocity) influence the price level and aggregate demand.
Monetarism builds on the Keynesian theory by assuming the same macroeconomic framework and integrating the equation of exchange (with V swinging cyclically, as Keynes argued), but instead focuses on the role played by money supply. Because they believe that V can be relatively easily predicted, monetarists argue that the equation of exchange could be resuscitated as an approach to stabilization policy, and they favor the use of monetary policy to do so.
Proponents of monetarism generally believe that controlling an economy through fiscal policy is a poor decision because it necessarily introduces microeconomic distortions that reduce economic efficiency. They prefer monetary policy as a tool to manage aggregate demand in a way that will be more neutral from a microeconomics standpoint and that avoids the deadweight losses and social costs that fiscal policy creates in market.
In general, monetary policy can be characterized as contractionary or expansionary. Contractionary monetary policy is when the Fed reduces inflation by raising the federal funds rate or decreasing the money supply. Expansionary monetary policy works by expanding the money supply faster than usual or lowering short-term interest rates.
In the years that followed, however, monetarism fell out of favor with many economists, as the link between different measures of money supply and inflation proved to be less clear than most monetarist theories had suggested. In addition, monetarism’s ability to explain the U.S. economy waned in the following decades. Many central banks today have stopped setting monetary targets and instead have adopted strict inflation targets.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis. One of the most important of these ideas is that inflation cannot continue indefinitely without increases in the money supply. In addition, it is the responsibility (although not the primary goal) of the central bank to control inflation.
That being said, monetarist interpretations of past economic events are still relevant today. Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman, cited the work of Friedman in his decision to lower interest rates and increase the U.S. money supply in order to boost the economy during the global recession that began in 2007 in the United States.
Real-World Examples of Monetarism
In Friedman’s seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, which he wrote with fellow economist Anna Schwartz, the two economists argued that failed monetary policy executed by the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression in the U.S. in the 1930s. In the view of Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed failed to relieve downward pressure on the money supply, and their eventual actions to reduce the money supply were the opposite of what they should have done. According to Friedman and Schwartz, markets tend towards a stable center; markets will behave erratically if the money supply is not properly set.
Monetarist Theory
By WILL KENTON Updated March 23, 2021
Reviewed by CHARLES POTTERS
What Is Monetarist Theory?
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
The competing theory to the monetarist theory is Keynesian economics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
According to monetarist theory, money supply is the most important determinant of the rate of economic growth.
It is governed by the MV = PQ formula, in which M = money supply, V = velocity of money, P = price of goods, and Q = quantity of goods and services.
The Federal Reserve controls money in the United States and uses three main levers—the reserve ratio, discount rate, and open market operations—to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.
Understanding Monetarist Theory
According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve (Fed) sets monetary policy without government interference. The Fed operates on a monetarist theory that focuses on maintaining stable prices (low inflation), promoting full employment, and achieving steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Controlling Money Supply
In the U.S., it is the job of the Fed to control the money supply. The Fed has three main levers:
The reserve ratio: The percentage of reserves a bank is required to hold against deposits. A decrease in the ratio enables banks to lend more, thereby increasing the supply of money.
The discount rate: The interest rate the Fed charges commercial banks that need to borrow additional reserves. A drop in the discount rate will encourage a bank to borrow more from the Fed and therefore lend more to its customers.
Open market operations: Open market operations consist of buying and selling government securities. Buying securities from large banks increases the supply of money, while selling securities contracts decreases the money supply in the economy.
Example of Monetarist Theory
Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a proponent of monetarist theory. During his initial years at the Fed in 1988, he increased interest rates, decreasing growth and raising inflation rates, which almost touched five percent.
The U.S. economy tipped into recession during the early 1990s. In response, Chair Greenspan boosted economic prospects by commencing on a rate-cutting spree that resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in the history of the U.S. economy. A loose monetary policy of low interest rates made the U.S. economy prone to bubbles, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Reference
OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH Updated July 25, 2021.
ERIC ESTEVEZ
DANIEL RATHBURN
By WILL KENTON Updated March 23, 2021
Reviewed by CHARLES POTTERS
Source
Investopedia.com
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
NAME: IGBADI ODIYA DANLADI
REG NO: 2019/244347
Email address: odiyadanladi190@gmail.com
COURSE: MACROECONOMICS THEORY11
DATE: 8 January 2022
Monetarism and Monetarist economic system.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable, Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
General price levels tend to rise more than the production of goods and services when the economy is closer to full employment. When there is slack in the economy, Q will increase at a faster rate than P under monetarist theory.
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
Examples of Monetarists and Monetarism*
Most monetarists opposed the gold standard in that the limited supply of gold would stall the amount of money in the system, which would lead to inflation, something monetarists believe should be controlled by the money supply, which is not possible under the gold standard unless gold is continually mined.
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable, Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.
How does Monetarism Works in an economy
When the money supply expands, it lowers interest rates. This is due to banks having more to lend, so they are willing to charge lower rates. That means consumers borrow more to buy items like houses, automobiles, and furniture. Decreasing the money supply raises interest rates, making loans more expensive—this slows economic growth.
Characteristics of Monetarism
Monetarism is a mixture of theoretical ideas, philosophical beliefs, and policy prescriptions. Here we list the most important ideas and policy implications and explain them below.
The theoretical foundation is the Quantity Theory of Money.
The economy is inherently stable.
Markets work well when left to themselves.
Government intervention can often times destabilize things more than they help.
Laissez faire is often the best advice.
The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy. They should not have discretion in conducting policy because they could make the economy worse off.
Fiscal Policy is often bad policy. A small role for government is good.
Velocity is the average number of times that the dollar turns over in a given year on the purchase of final goods and services
By assuming that velocity is stable, we transform the equation of exchange into the quantity theory of money.
The Quantity Theory of Money: The Short-Run
We begin with the equation of exchange. This is the building block for monetarist theory. It says that
M × V = P × Y
where M is the quantity of M1, V is velocity of M1, or the average number of times that the dollar
turns over in a given year on the purchase of final goods and services, P is the price level, and Y is real output.
As defined, the equation of exchange is always true. Keynesians, Monetarists and all other economists accept this equation as valid. The controversy arises because Monetarists make a seemingly innocuous assumption that velocity is stable in the short run. Let us take that assumption to its extreme and assume that velocity is fixed in the short run. The equation of exchange is rewritten as
where implies that velocity is fixed in the short run. By making this simple assumption, we have transformed the equation of exchange into the Quantity Theory of Money. This equation tells us that any change in M1 will impact P × Y. Changes in the money supply are the dominant forces that change nominal GDP (P × Y). It is not surprising, therefore, that monetarists view control of the money supply as the key variable in stabilizing the economy.
Monetarists argue that, in the long run, changes in the money supply only cause inflation.
The Quantity Theory of Money: The Long-Run
Because monetarists believe that markets are stable and work well, they believe that the economy is always near or quickly approaching full employment. Even if the economy is not at full employment, the danger of GDP deviating substantially from its potential level is small. So in the long-run, the economy will be at YP. The Quantity Theory of Money in the long-run becomes:
Notice that ‘M’ and ‘P’ are the only variables in this equation that change in the long run. The implication is that changes in the money supply will only impact the price level, P. In the long run, changes in the money supply only cause inflation. This conclusion explains Friedman’s famous quote “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Another implication is that the rate of growth of the money supply will equal the rate of growth of the price level (or inflation) in the long-run. If the money supply grows by five percent per year, the inflation rate will be about five percent per year.
Monetarists prefer to take away the discretion of central bankers by forcing them to follow the money growth rule: Monetary policymakers should target the growth rate of money such that it equals the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged.
The Rules vs. Discretion Debate
Because monetarists believe that the money supply is the primary determinant of nominal GDP in the short run, and of the price level in the long run, they think that control of the money supply should not be left to the discretion of central bankers. Monetarists believe in a set of “rules” that the Federal Reserve must follow. In particular, Monetarists prefer the Money growth rule: The central bank should be required to target the growth rate of money such that it equals the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. Monetarists wish to take much of the discretionary power out of the hands of the Fed so they cannot destabilize the economy.
Keynesians balk at this proposed money growth rule. Keynesians believe that velocity is inherently unstable and they do not believe that markets adjust quickly to return to potential output. Therefore, Keynesians attach little or no significance to the Quantity Theory of Money. Because the economy is subject to deep swings and periodic instability, it is dangerous to take discretionary power away from the Fed. The Fed should have some leeway or “discretion” in conducting policy. So far, Keynesians have won this debate. There has not been serious talk in some time of tying the Fed to a fixed money growth
Empirical Evidence of Monetarism
Which school of thought is right, Keynesians or Monetarists? The answer hinges on the two assumptions described above: the stability of velocity and the efficiency of markets. We address the first of these two assumptions here. The figure titled “Velocity” plots velocity of M1 from 1970 to 2003. In the 1970s velocity was not stable, but at least it was increasing at a fairly constant rate.
Monetarism relies on the predictability of velocity rather than absolute stability, so in the 1970s one could make a case for the short-run quantity theory. However, the 1980s and 1990s have not been kind to Monetarist assumptions. Velocity was highly unstable with unpredictable periods of increases and declines. In such an environment, the link between the money supply and nominal GDP broke down and the usefulness of the quantity theory of money came into question. Many economists who were convinced by Friedman and Monetarism.
NAME: UCHEAMA CALISTA NGOZI
REG. NO: 2019/243039
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
COURSE: MACROECONOMICS II (ECO 204)
TOPIC: DISCUSS MONETARIST MACROECONOMIC SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy. Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
Macroeconomic
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that studies how an overall economy—the market or other systems that operate on a large scale behaves. Macroeconomics studies economy-wide phenomena such as inflation, price levels, rate of economic growth, national income, gross domestic product (GDP), and changes in unemployment.
Monetarist
The Monetarist school is a branch of Keynesian economics largely credited to the works of Milton Friedman. Working within and extending Keynesian models, Monetarists argue that monetary policy is generally a more effective and more desirable policy tool to manage aggregate demand than fiscal policy. Monetarists also acknowledge limits to monetary policy that make fine tuning the economy ill-advised and instead tend to prefer adherence to policy rules that promote stable rates of inflation.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.
Monetarist Macroeconomic System
Milton Friedman updated the quantity theory of money to include a role for money demand. He argued that the role of money in the economy was sufficient to explain the Great Depression, and that aggregate demand oriented explanations were not necessary. Friedman also argued that monetary policy was more effective than fiscal policy; however, Friedman doubted the government’s ability to fine-tune the economy with monetary policy. He generally favored a policy of steady growth in money supply instead of frequent intervention (J Bullard, K Mitra).
Friedman also challenged the Phillips curve relationship between inflation and unemployment. Friedman and Edmund Phelps (who was not a monetarist) proposed an “augmented” version of the Phillips curve that excluded the possibility of a stable, long-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. When the oil shocks of the 1970s created a high unemployment and high inflation, Friedman and Phelps were vindicated. Monetarism was particularly influential in the early 1980s. Monetarism fell out of favor when central banks found it difficult to target money supply instead of interest rates as monetarists recommended. Monetarism also became politically unpopular when the central banks created recessions in order to slow inflation.
Macroeconomic policy is usually implemented through two sets of tools: fiscal and monetary policy. Both forms of policy are used to stabilize the economy, which can mean boosting the economy to the level of GDP consistent with full employment (Mayer, 2011). Macroeconomic policy focuses on limiting the effects of the business cycle to achieve the economic goals of price stability, full employment, and growth (Phillips Curve).
Summary
The monetarist theory, as popularized by Milton Friedman, asserts that money supply is the primary factor in determining inflation/deflation in an economy. According to the theory, monetary policy is a much more effective tool than the fiscal policy for stimulating the economy or slowing down the rate of inflation. Monetarist macroeconomic system is the primary alternative macroeconomic theory to Keynesian economic theory; monetarists believe in extremely limited government economic intervention, while Keynesians argue for active government intervention.
REFERENCES
Blanchard (2011). Macroeconomic theory, 582–83. http://www.macroeconomic_theory_sssb.dlb.ii.
Bullard, J., Mitra, K., (2002). Learning about monetary policy rules. Journal of monetary economics, Elsevier, Princeton
University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Herianingrum, S., Syapriatama, I. (2016). Dual monetary system and macroeconomic performance in Indonesia. Journal Ekonomi Syariah, repository.unair.ac.id
Mayer (2011). AP Macroeconomics Review, 495. http://www.macroeconomic_system_and_monetary_policy…
Nakamura, Emi; Steinsson, Jón (2018). Identification in Macroeconomics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32 (3): 59–86. doi:10.1257/jep.32.3.59. ISSN 0895-3309. S2CID 44180952.
Phillips Curve (2018). The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Library of Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
Wray, L.R. (2015) Modern money theory: A primer on macroeconomics for sovereign monetary systems. books.google.com
Arinze ebuka Kelvin
Economics department
2019/246530
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
Although most modern economists reject the emphasis on money growth that monetarists purported in the past, some core tenets of the theory have become a mainstay in nonmonetarist analysis.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
I share the same view as explained above that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth. As economist, effort should be geared to research on efdective strategies on how to expand the total amount of money in the economy.
What Is a Monetarist?
A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply.
The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.History of the Monetarist Theory
While economist Clark Warburton initially posited much of the monetarist theory immediately following World War II, Milton Friedman is recognized as the primary advocate of modern-day monetarism. The monetarist theory was expounded by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960,” and in a 1967 speech at the American Economic Association.
Interestingly, while the monetarist theory is essentially a guide for central bank policies, Friedman was opposed to the whole idea of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
In fact, Friedman blamed much of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the Federal Reserve, arguing that the Fed tightened the money supply at the very moment that it should have been expanding it to stimulate economic growth.
Given that central banks do exist, Friedman argued that monetary policy – the expansion or contraction of the money supply – is a much more effective tool for influencing the economy than fiscal policy – the government’s taxation and spending activities.How Money Supply Affects the Economy
The central bank of a country can expand or contract the money supply through the manipulation of interest rates.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve can change the Fed Funds Rate – the interest rate at which banks can lend money overnight to other banks. The Fed funds rate affects all other interest rates in the economy.
When the Fed funds rate is higher, interest rates increase overall. It decreases the amount of money lent to businesses and consumers, thus reducing spending and economic growth. Conversely, lowering interest rates increases borrowing by consumers and businesses, thus boosting spending and stimulating economic growth.
The Underlying Equation
There is an underlying equation that forms the foundation of the monetarist theory. It is known as the “equation of exchange” (also referred to as the “quantity theory of money”). Although the equation’s become quite complex due to its expansion and refinement by recent economists, the basic equation is expressed as follows:
Where:
M is the money supply
V is the velocity of money (the rate of turnover at which a single unit of currency – e.g., one dollar – is spent in one year)
P is the average price level for transactions in the economy (the purchase of goods and services)
Q is the total quantity of goods and services produced – i.e., economic output or production
According to the monetarist theory, V (the velocity of money) remains relatively stable. Therefore, it changes M (the money supply) that primarily affects prices and economic production.
There are several main points that the monetarist theory derives from the equation of exchange:
An increase in the money supply will lead to overall price increases in the economy.
Increased money supply will result in only short-term effects on economic output (i.e., Gross Domestic Product – GDP) and employment levels.
The best monetary policy for a central bank to follow is to peg the money supply’s growth rate to match the rate of growth of real GDP – it is the best policy to support continuing economic growth and keep the rate of inflation relatively low.
The last point is the key to the monetarist theory. Monetarist economists believe that the central bank’s manipulation of the money supply should be restricted. They believe that a central bank that more actively attempts to change the money supply is more likely to harm the economy than to benefit it.
However, this contention may be heavily tied to the monetarists’ basic distrust of central banks as an institution. The idea runs counter to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which favors active, unrestricted intervention by the central bank.
Monetarist Theory vs. Keynesian Economics
Monetarism, as espoused by Friedman, stands in contrast to the Keynesian Economic Theory, which rose to popularity in the 1930s. While monetarism focuses on monetary policy, Keynesian theory concentrates on fiscal policy.
Friedman argued that the errant monetary policy of the Federal Reserve was a primary cause of the Great Depression. Keynes believed that the fiscal policy of the government – increasing government spending – is the key factor in stimulating an economy that is in a recession.
Overall, Keynesian economists believe in active central bank and government intervention in the economy, while monetarists – such as Friedman – believe that free markets self-adjust in terms of prices and employment to provide the maximum benefit to the economy.
Monetarists are opposed to government intervention in the economy except on a very limited basis (believing that it typically does more harm than good), while Keynesian economists see the government and the central bank as primary drivers of economic wIn the rise of monetarism as an ideology, two specific economists were critical contributors. Clark Warburton, in 1945, has been identified as the first thinker to draft an empirically sound argument in favor of monetarism. This was taken more mainstream by Milton Friedman in 1956 in a restatement of the quantity theory of money. The basic premise these two economists were putting forward is that the supply of money and the role of central banking play a critical role in macroeconomics.
The generation of this theory takes into account a combination of Keynesian monetary perspectives and Friedman’s pursuit of price stability. Keynes postulated a demand-driven model for currency; a perspective on printed money that was not beholden to the ‘ gold standard ‘ (or basing economic value off of rare metal). Instead, the amount of money in a given environment should be determined by monetary rules. Friedman originally put forward the idea of a ‘k-percent rule,’ which weighed a variety of economic indicators to determine the appropriate money supply.
Evidence
Theoretically, the idea is actually quite straight-forward. When the money supply is expanded, individuals will be induced to higher spending. In turn, when the money supply retracted, individuals would limit their budgetary spending accordingly. This would theoretically provide some control over aggregate demand (which is one of the primary areas of disagreement between Keynesian and classical economists).
Monetarism began to deviate more from Keynesian economics however in the 70’s and 80’s, as active implementation and historical reflection began to generate more evidence for the monetarist view. In 1979 for example, Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chief of the Federal Reserve, who in turn utilized the monetarist perspective to control inflation. He eventually created a price stability, providing evidence that the theory was sound. In addition, Milton Friedman and Ann Schwartz analyzed the Great Depression in the context of monetarism as well, identifying a shortage of the money supply as a critical component of the recession.
The 1980s were an interesting transitional period for this perspective, as early in the decade (1980-1983) monetary policies controlling capital were attributed to substantial reductions in inflation (14% to 3%)(see ). However, unemployment and the rise of the use of credit are quoted as two alternatives to money supply control being the primary influence of the boom that followed 1983.
U.S. Inflation Rates: The inflation rates over time in the U.S. represent some of the evidence put forward by monetarist economists, stating that governmental control of the money supply allows for some control over inflation.
Counter Arguments
As these counter arguments in the 1980s began to arise, critics of monetarism became more mainstream. Of the current monetarism critics, the Austrian school of thought is likely the most well-known. The Austrian school of economic thought perceives monetarism as somewhat narrow-minded, not effectively taking into account the subjectivity involved in valuing capital. That is to say that monetarism seems to assume an objective value of capital in an economy, and the subsequent implications on the supply and demand.
Other criticisms revolve around international investment, trade liberalization, and central bank policy. This can be summarized as the effects of globalization, and the interdependence of markets (and consequently currencies). To manipulate money supply there will inherently be effects on other currencies as a result of relativity. This is particularly important in regards to the U.S. currency, which is considered a standard in international markets. Controlling supply and altering value may have effects on a variety of internal economic variables, but it will also have unintended consequences on external variables.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.1 Other neutrality concepts, including the natural-rate hypothesis, are mentioned below.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
During the 1970s, inflation rose in the United States, as well as in many other industrial nations, to levels unprecedented on a multiyear basis during periods of relative peace. This occurred as a consequence of various “shocks”—oil price increases, the Vietnam War, and especially the 1971–1973 demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates (itself caused largely by the failure of the United States to maintain the gold value of the dollar). This demise left central bankers with a major new responsibility; namely, to provide a nominal anchor for national fiat currencies to replace the gold standard. The Federal Reserve announced several times during the 1970s that it intended to bring inflation under control, but various attempts were unsuccessful. Then, on October 6, 1979, the Fed, under Paul Volcker’s chairmanship, announced and put into effect a new attempt involving drastically revised operating procedures that had some prominent features in common with monetarist recommendations. In particular, the Fed would try to hit specified monthly targets for the growth rate of M1, with operating procedures that emphasized control over a narrow and controllable monetary aggregate, nonborrowed reserves (i.e., bank reserves minus borrowings from the Fed). The M1 targets were intended to bring inflation down from double-digit levels to unspecified but much lower values.
In retrospect, the events that occurred from October 1979 to September 1982 are widely viewed as the crucial beginning of a necessary and successful attack on inflation that led, eventually, to the worldwide low-inflation environment of the 1990s. At the time, however, the “experiment” seemed anything but successful to many Americans. Short-term interest rates jumped dramatically in late 1979 under the tightened conditions, and 1980 witnessed a major fall in output in one quarter followed by a major jump in the next, due primarily to the imposition, and then removal, of credit controls. Finally, in 1981 and into the middle of 1982, a sustained period of monetary stringency brought about the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s and began to bring inflation down, more rapidly than many economists anticipated ,toward acceptable values.
MOETEKE EBELE LOUISA
2019/244608
Monetarist system is an economic school of thought that stresses the primary importance of the money supply in determining nominal GDP and the price level. It is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. The “Founding Father” of Monetarism is economist Milton Friedman. Monetarism is a theoretical challenge to Keynesian economics that increased in importance and popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the tide was so strong that in 1979 the Federal Reserve switched its operating strategy more in line with Monetarist theory, though they subsequently abandoned the strategy in 1982 for a number of reasons.
The challenge to the traditional Keynesian theory strengthened during the years of stagflation following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Keynesian theory had no appropriate policy responses to the supply shocks. Inflation was high and rising through the 1970s and Friedman argued convincingly that the high rates of inflation were due to rapid increases in the money supply. He argued that the economy may be complicated, but stabilization policy does not have to be. The key to good policy was to control the supply of money.
People who believe in monetarist system warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
The quantity theory is the basis for several key tenets and prescriptions of monetary output.
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary non-neutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Alumona Godwin Okwudili
2019/242164
Economic
International Monetary System
“International monetary system” is often used interchangeably with terms such as
“international monetary and financial system” and “international financial architecture.”
Since the nomenclature involves de jure/de facto jurisdiction, obligations and oversight
concerning sovereign nations and multilateral bodies, it is important to be precise and
specific.
As outlined in the Articles of Agreement that established it, the IMF is required to
exercise oversight of the IMS. The obligations of member countries are to direct economic
and financial policies and to foster underlying economic and financial conditions desired to
achieve orderly economic growth with reasonable price stability (“domestic stability”), avoid
manipulation of the exchange rates and to follow compatible exchange rate policies. In 2007,
the IMF sought to broaden the scope of surveillance from the narrow focus on exchange rates
to the concept of “external stability” — “a balance of payments position that does not, and is
not likely to, give rise to disruptive exchange rate movements” (IMF, 2007) — but the focus
on exchange rates as the main objective was retained. Thus, the IMF, as a multilateral
institution, has a very specific mandate to ensure the stability and effective operation of the
IMS. This is important in view of the areas in which the IMF has been seeking to
amorphously expand its outreach and ambit — poverty, climate change, inequality and
financial supervision, to name a few. This mission creep is most evident in some of the new
proposals to reform the IMF’s surveillance mandate, which warrant caution and vigilance, as
they could collide with the principles of national sovereignty and specialization. The Fund
views issues such as climate change, inequality and financial supervision as relevant since it
needs to explore the fiscal and financial stability consequence of these trends, so that it can
incorporate them in its strategic planning (IMF, 2013a).
The IMS is not synonymous with the international financial system. Indeed, its
founding fathers may have not intended it to be so. The IMF has no powers of oversight over
the IMS beyond the broad appraisal of domestic policies and conditions that may encompass
the financial sector. Since 2009, however, the IMF has made the Financial Sector Assessment
Program (FSAP) (jointly owned with the World Bank) mandatory for 25 countries as part of
its surveillance function. Finally, as demonstrated most starkly by the NAFC of 2008-2009,
policies and conditions in systemically important countries can have huge negative
externalities for the IMS at large, whether they are transmitted through the balance of
payments, or through other channels, such as the confidence channel. The external effects of
the policies and conditions of systemically important economies can erode the stability of
IMS. The question that arises, however, is: whether it is feasible for the IMF to effectively
The objective of the IMS is to contribute to stable and high global growth, while
fostering price and financial stability. The IMS comprises the set of official arrangements
that regulate key dimensions of the balance of payments (IMF, 2009c; 2010a). It consists of
four elements: exchange arrangements and exchange rates; international payments and
transfers relating to current international transactions; international capital movements; and
international reserves. The essential purpose of the IMS is to facilitate the exchange of goods,
services and capital among 5
constrain these countries in exercising policies that have significant negative spillovers?
IMS Performance
The IMS has evolved continuously over the last century, reflecting ongoing changes
in global economic realities and in economic thought (Benassy-Quere and Pisani-Ferry,
2011). Throughout this whole period, there has been a continuous search for an effective
nominal anchor. In the process, the binding rules that marked its passage through the gold
standard and the Bretton Woods regimes have fallen by the wayside. The gold standard
provided the anchor in the pre-World War I period: a period characterized by free capital
flows and fixed exchange rates and, hence, no independent monetary policy. The interwar
period was marked by confusion, which yielded to the Bretton Woods system of semi-fixed
exchange rates and controlled capital flows that provided scope for an independent monetary
policy. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s led to the introduction
of the prevailing system of floating exchange rates, free capital flows and independent
monetary policy in the major advanced economies. Within this post-Bretton Woods
framework, the monetary policy framework also transitioned from a monetary targeting
regime in the 1970s and the 1980s to inflation targeting frameworks. Given the preference
for open capital accounts, and the belief in efficient financial markets, financial sector
regulation moved from an intrusive framework to a light-touch framework.
However, given the recurrence and increased frequency of financial crises, the IMS
appears to be caught in a bind analogous to the impossible trinity (Fleming, 1962; Mundell,
1963) — domestic stability versus external stability versus global stability. The pursuit of
sustained growth with price stability may not guarantee a balance of payments position that
does not have disruptive effects on exchange rates; domestic and external stability cannot
preclude threats to global stability. Neither can global stability assure domestic/external
stability at the individual country level.
The performance of the IMS in the post-Bretton Woods era has been mixed when
evaluated against relevant metrics. Average global growth has tended to slow and has also
become volatile, mainly due to recent developments in the advanced economies (AEs). On
the other hand, in recent times, growth in the EDEs has tended to provide some stability to
global growth. Inflation and its variability moderated globally in both the AEs and the EDEs
(Table 1). The period of the Great Moderation is generally believed to have begun with the
taming of inflation in the early 1980s and extends up to 2007, when the global crisis struck.
This is not discernible, however, in terms of decadal comparisons. While the variability of
growth did come down in the 1990s relative to the preceding decade, it was still higher than
in the 1970s. Analogously, the lowest variability in inflation seems to have been in the 1970s
for the AEs and in the 2000s for the EDEs. This discussion, however, provides no
information on causality; it is difficult to infer whether the post-Bretton Woods IMS is
responsible for heightened instability, or whether it exists in a period of heightened volatility
(Bush, Farrant and Wright, 2011).
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s
However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical.
The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles.
The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982.
During the 1970s, inflation rose in the United States, as well as in many other industrial nations, to levels unprecedented on a multiyear basis during periods of relative peace. This occurred as a consequence of various “shocks”—oil price increases, the Vietnam War, and especially the 1971–1973 demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates (itself caused largely by the failure of the United States to maintain the gold value of the dollar). This demise left central bankers with a major new responsibility; namely, to provide a nominal anchor for national fiat currencies to replace the gold standard.
In retrospect, the events that occurred from October 1979 to September 1982 are widely viewed as the crucial beginning of a necessary and successful attack on inflation that led, eventually, to the worldwide low-inflation environment of the 1990s. At the time, however, the “experiment” seemed anything but successful to many Americans. Short-term interest rates jumped dramatically in late 1979 under the tightened conditions, and 1980 witnessed a major fall in output in one quarter followed by a major jump in the next, due primarily to the imposition, and then removal, of credit controls. Finally, in 1981 and into the middle of 1982, a sustained period of monetary stringency brought about the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s and began to bring inflation down, more rapidly than many economists anticipated, toward acceptable values
What is left today of monetarism? While some disagreement remains, certain things are clear. Interestingly, most of the changes to Keynesian thinking that early monetarists proposed are accepted today as part of standard macro/monetary analysis. After all, the main proposed changes were to distinguish carefully between real and nominal variables, to distinguish between real and nominal interest rates, and to deny the existence of a long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Also, most research economists today accept, at least tacitly, the proposition that monetary policy is more potent and useful than fiscal policy for stabilizing the economy. There is some academic support, and a bit in central bank circles, for the real-business-cycle suggestion that monetary policy has no important effect on real variables, but this idea probably has marginal significance. It is hard to believe that the major recession of 1981–1983 in the United States was not caused largely by the Fed’s deliberate.
Reference
Brunner, Karl, and Allan H. Meltzer. “An Aggregate Theory for a Closed Economy.” In Jerome L. Stein, ed., Monetarism. New York: American Elsevier, 1976.
Friedman, Milton. A Program for Monetary Stability. New York: Fordham University Press, 1959.
Friedman, Milton. “The Role of Monetary Policy.” American Economic Review 58 (March 1968): 1–17.
Friedman, Milton, and Anna J. Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963.
McCallum, Bennett T. Monetary Economics: Theory and Policy. New York: Macmillan, 1989.
Symposium: “Monetarism: Lessons from the Post-1979 Experiment.” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 74 (May 1984): 382–400.
Taylor, John B., ed. Monetary Policy Rules. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
Monetarist is a macroeconomic economic system which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Monetarism is associated with economist Milton Friedman who argued that government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly every year.
The monetarist emphasizes the use of monetary policy to manage aggregate demand, subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price level and inflation. Changes in money supply also affect employment employment and production levels, but monetarist asserts that those effects are only temporary while the effect on inflation is more significant.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory which states that government can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of tge money supply. Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly every year to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
The monetarist emphasizes the use of monetary policy to manage aggregate demand. Changes in money supply also affect employment and production levels, but monetarist asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more significant.
MONETARIST THEORY
The monetarist theory is an economic concept that posits that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. It is of the view that money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.According to monetarist theory, if a nation’s supply of money increases, economic activity will increase—and vice versa.
Milton Friedman is believed to be the father of Monetarism. He popularized the theory of monetarism in his 1967 address to the American Economic Association.
Monetarist theory is governed by a simple formula: MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity (number of times per year the average dollar is spent), P is the price of goods and services and Q is the quantity of goods and services. Assuming constant V, when M is increased, either P, Q, or both P and Q rise.The foundation of monetarism is the Quantity Theory of Money. The theory is an accounting identity—that is, it must be true. It says that the money supply multiplied by velocity (the rate at which money changes hands) equals nominal expenditures in the economy (the number of goods and services sold multiplied by the average price paid for them). As an accounting identity, this equation is uncontroversial. What is controversial is velocity. Monetarist theory views velocity as generally stable, which implies that nominal income is largely a function of the money supply. Variations in nominal income reflect changes in real economic activity (the number of goods and services sold) and inflation (the average price paid for them).
Several key tenets and prescriptions of monetarism:
1. Long-run monetary neutrality: An increase in the money stock would be followed by an increase in the general price level in the long run, with no effects on real factors such as consumption or output.
2. Short-run monetary nonneutrality: An increase in the stock of money has temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment in the short run because wages and prices take time to adjust (they are sticky, in economic parlance).
3. Constant money growth rule: Friedman, who died in 2006, proposed a fixed monetary rule, which states that the Fed should be required to target the growth rate of money to equal the growth rate of real GDP, leaving the price level unchanged. If the economy is expected to grow at 2 percent in a given year, the Fed should allow the money supply to increase by 2 percent. The Fed should be bound to fixed rules in conducting monetary policy because discretionary power can destabilize the economy.
4. Interest rate flexibility: The money growth rule was intended to allow interest rates, which affect the cost of credit, to be flexible to enable borrowers and lenders to take account of expected inflation as well as the variations in real interest rates.
Many monetarists also believe that markets are inherently stable in the absence of major unexpected fluctuations in the money supply. They also assert that government intervention can often destabilize the economy more than help it. Monetarists also believe that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment because the economy settles at long-run equilibrium at a full employment level of output.
*REFERENCES*
Kimberly Amado. (2021). Monetarism Explained. Retrieved February 4, 2022. https://www.thebalance.com/monetarism-and-how-it-works-3305866
Sarmat Jahard and Chris Papageorgin.(2014). What is Monetarism?: Finance and Development. Retrieved February 4, 2022. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandel/2014/03/basics.htm
Will Kenton. (2021). Monetarist Theory: What is Monetarism. Retrieved February 4 2022. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetaristtheory.asp
Monetarism is a macroeconomics theory which states that governments can foster economic stability by targeting the growth rate of the money supply. Essentially, it is a set of views based on the belief that the total amount of money in an economy is the primary determinant of economic growth.
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year mainly to allow for the natural growth of the economy.
Monetarism is a branch of Keynesian economics that emphasizes the use of monetary policy over fiscal policy to manage aggregate demand, contrary to most Keynesians.
The monetarist theory (also referred to as “monetarism”) is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. Subscribers to the theory believe that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation.
Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession.
Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long-lasting and significant.
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Monetarist macro economic system
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.It can also be defined as an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Now let me explain who a monetarist is, A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.1 Other neutrality concepts, including the natural-rate hypothesis, are mentioned below.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
Monetarist macro economic system
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.It can also be defined as an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Now let me explain who a monetarist is, A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.1 Other neutrality concepts, including the natural-rate hypothesis, are mentioned below.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982. The latter episode warrants an extended discussion.
Monetarist macro economic system
Monetarist theory, or monetarism, is an approach to economics that centers on the money supply (the amount of money in circulation, including not just coins and bills but also bank-account balances). The basic idea behind monetarist thinking is that the size of the money supply is more important than any other factor affecting the economy.It can also be defined as an economic concept that contends that changes in money supply are the most significant determinants of the rate of economic growth and the behavior of the business cycle. When monetarist theory works in practice, central banks, which control the levers of monetary policy, can exert much power over economic growth rates.
Now let me explain who a monetarist is, A monetarist is an economist who holds the strong belief that money supply—including physical currency, deposits, and credit—is the primary factor affecting demand in an economy. Consequently, the economy’s performance—its growth or contraction—can be regulated by changes in the money supply. The key driver behind this belief is the impact of inflation on an economy’s growth or health and the idea that by controlling the money supply, one can control the inflation rate.
Monetarism is an economic school of thought which states that the supply of money in an economy is the primary driver of economic growth. As the availability of money in the system increases, aggregate demand for goods and services goes up. An increase in aggregate demand encourages job creation, which reduces the rate of unemployment and stimulates economic growth.Monetary policy, an economic tool used in monetarism, is implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Milton Friedman and Monetarism
Monetarism is closely associated with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, based on the quantity theory of money, that the government should keep the money supply fairly steady, expanding it slightly each year to allow for the natural growth of the economy. Due to the inflationary effects that can be brought about by the excessive expansion of the money supply, Friedman, who formulated the theory of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy should be done by targeting the growth rate of the money supply to maintain economic and price stability.In his book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867–1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate called the K-percent rule, suggesting that money supply should grow at a constant annual rate tied to the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and be expressed as a fixed percentage per year. This way, the money supply will be expected to grow moderately, businesses will be able to anticipate the changes to the money supply every year and plan accordingly, the economy will grow at a steady rate, and inflation will be kept at low levels.
The Quantity Theory of Money
Central to monetarism is the “quantity theory of money,” which monetarists adopted from earlier economic theories and integrated into the general Keynesian framework of macroeconomics. The quantity theory of money can be summarized in the equation of exchange, formulated by John Stuart Mill, which states that the money supply, multiplied by the rate at which money is spent per year, equals the nominal expenditures in the economy. The formula is given as:
MV=PQ
where:
M=money supply
V=velocity (rate at which money changes hands)
P=average price of a good or service
Q=quantity of goods and services sold
A key point to note is that monetarists believe that changes to M (money supply) are the driver of the equation. In short, a change in M directly affects and determines employment, inflation (P), and production (Q). In the original version of the quantity theory of money, V is held to be constant, but this assumption was dropped by John Maynard Keynes and is not assumed by the monetarists, who instead believe that V is easily predictable.Economic growth is a function of economic activity (Q) and inflation (P). If V is constant (or at least predictable), then an increase (or decrease) in M will lead to an increase (or decrease) in either P or Q. An increase in P denotes that Q will remain constant, while an increase in Q means that P will be relatively constant. According to monetarism, variations in the money supply will affect price levels over the long term and economic output in the short term. A change in the money supply, therefore, will directly determine prices, production, and employment.
Monetarism is a macroeconomic school of thought that emphasizes (1) long-run monetary neutrality, (2) short-run monetary nonneutrality, (3) the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and (4) the role of monetary aggregates in policy analysis. It is particularly associated with the writings of Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, and Allan Meltzer, with early contributors outside the United States including David Laidler, Michael Parkin, and Alan Walters. Some journalists—especially in the United Kingdom—have used the term to refer to doctrinal support of free-market positions more generally, but that usage is inappropriate; many free-market advocates would not dream of describing themselves as monetarists.
An economy possesses basic long-run monetary neutrality if an exogenous increase of Z percent in its stock of money would ultimately be followed, after all adjustments have taken place, by a Z percent increase in the general price level, with no effects on real variables (e.g., consumption, output, relative prices of individual commodities). While most economists believe that long-run neutrality is a feature of actual market economies, at least approximately, no other group of macroeconomists emphasizes this proposition as strongly as do monetarists. Also, some would object that, in practice, actual central banks almost never conduct policy so as to involve exogenous changes in the money supply. This objection is correct factually but irrelevant: the crucial matter is whether the supply and demand choices of households and businesses reflect concern only for the underlying quantities of goods and services that are consumed and produced. If they do, then the economy will have the property of longrun neutrality, and thus the above-described reaction to a hypothetical change in the money supply would occur.1 Other neutrality concepts, including the natural-rate hypothesis, are mentioned below.
Short-run monetary nonneutrality obtains, in an economy with long-run monetary neutrality, if the price adjustments to a change in money take place only gradually, so that there are temporary effects on real output (GDP) and employment. Most economists consider this property realistic, but an important school of macroeconomists, the so-called real business cycle proponents, denies it.
Continuing with our list, real interest rates are ordinary (“nominal”) interest rates adjusted to take account of expected inflation, as rational, optimizing people would do when they make trade-offs between present and future. As long ago as the very early 1800s, British banker and economist Henry Thornton recognized the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and American economist Irving Fisher emphasized it in the early 1900s. However, the distinction was often neglected in macroeconomic analysis until monetarists began insisting on its importance during the 1950s. Many Keynesians did not disagree in principle, but in practice their models often did not recognize the distinction and/or they judged the “tightness” of monetary policy by the prevailing level of nominal interest rates. All monetarists emphasized the undesirability of combating inflation by nonmonetary means, such as wage and price controls or guidelines, because these would create market distortions. They stressed, in other words, that ongoing inflation is fundamentally monetary in nature, a viewpoint foreign to most Keynesians of the time.
Finally, the original monetarists all emphasized the role of monetary aggregates—such as M1, M2, and the monetary base—in monetary policy analysis, but details differed between Friedman and Schwartz, on the one hand, and Brunner and Meltzer, on the other. Friedman’s striking and famous recommendation was that, irrespective of current macroeconomic conditions, the stock of money should be made to grow “month by month, and indeed, so far as possible, day by day, at an annual rate of X per cent, where X is some number between 3 and 5.”2 Brunner and Meltzer also favored monetary policy rules but recognized the attractiveness of activist rules that relate money growth rates to prevailing economic conditions. Also, they typically concentrated on the monetary base, adjusted to reflect changes in reserve requirements, whereas Friedman was more concerned with M2 or M1 and, indeed, sought major changes in banking legislation, such as 100 percent reserve requirements on deposits, designed to make the chosen aggregate precisely controllable.
Friedman’s constant-money-growth rule, rather than other equally fundamental aspects of monetarism, attracted the most attention, thereby detracting from the understanding and appreciation of monetarism. In particular, this led to the comparative neglect of Friedman’s crucial “accelerationist” or “natural-rate” hypothesis, according to which there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, the long-run phillips curve is vertical. The no-trade-off view was also promoted by Brunner and Meltzer. Accordingly, it might be argued that the two fundamental monetarist propositions are (1) that cyclical movements in nominal income are primarily attributable to movements in the stock of money, and, (2) that there is no permanent trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Together, these lead to monetarist-style policy positions.
Monetarism’s rise to intellectual prominence began with writings on basic monetary theory by Friedman and other University of Chicago economists during the 1950s, writings that were influential because of their adherence to fundamental neoclassical principles. The most outstanding in this series was Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1967, published in 1968 as “The Role of Monetary Policy.” In this paper Friedman developed the natural-rate hypothesis (which he had clearly stated two years earlier) and used it as a pillar in the argument for a constant-growth-rate rule for monetary policy. Almost simultaneously, Edmund Phelps, who was not a monetarist, developed a similar no-trade-off theory, and, within a few years, events in the world economy apparently provided dramatic empirical support.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after a decade of increasing influence, monetarism’s reputation began to decline for three main reasons. One was the growing belief, based on plausible interpretations of experience, that money demand is in practice highly “unstable,” shifting significantly and unpredictably from one quarter to the next. The second was the rise of rational expectations economics, which split analysts antagonistic to Keynesian activism into distinct camps. (A majority of monetarists themselves soon embraced the rational expectations hypothesis.) The third was the Federal Reserve’s famous “monetarist experiment” of 1979–1982.
A Monetarist is an economist who advocate Monetarism (also referred to as Monetarist Theory). Monetarism is defined as a fundamental macro economic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply. Monetarist support the doctrine that a nation’s economic system is controlled by the regulation of the money supply. Increasing money supply , according to the theory, leads to higher prices and inflation, while decrease in money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing inflation.
A Monetarist adopts the Monetary policy of the macro-economic policy tool. It is a tool implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Famous Monetarist include Milton Friedman, Chair of Federal Reserve in the United States: Alan Greenspan and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: Margaret Thatcher. Milton Friedman is recognised as the primary advocate of Monetarism. The Monetarist theory was explained at length by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960“. In 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory.
Reference
CFI EDUCATION INC. Monetarist Theory. Last accessed 3 February 2022: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH.(2021, July 25).Monetarism: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
THE INVESTOPEDIA TEAM.(2021, August 29). Monetary Policy: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarypolicy.asp
A Monetarist is an economist who advocate Monetarism (also referred to as Monetarist Theory). Monetarism is defined as a fundamental macro economic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply. A Monetarist support the doctrine that a nation’s economic system is controlled by the regulation of the money supply. Increasing money supply , according to the theory, leads to higher prices and inflation, while decrease in money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing inflation.
A Monetarist adopts the Monetary policy of the macro-economic policy tool. It is a tool implemented to adjust interest rates that, in turn, control the money supply. When interest rates are increased, people have more of an incentive to save than to spend, thereby reducing or contracting the money supply. Contrarily, when interest rates are lowered following an expansionary monetary scheme, the cost of borrowing decreases, which means people can borrow more and spend more, thereby stimulating the economy.
Famous Monetarist include Milton Friedman, Chair of Federal Reserve in the United States: Alan Greenspan and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: Margaret Thatcher. Milton Friedman is recognised as the primary advocate of Monetarism. The Monetarist theory was explained at length by Friedman in a book he co-wrote with Anna Schwartz, “A Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960“. In 1963, Friedman argued that poor monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, was the primary cause of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In their view, the failure of the Fed (as it is usually called) to offset forces that were putting downward pressure on the money supply and its actions to reduce the stock of money were the opposite of what should have been done. They also argued that because markets naturally move toward a stable center, an incorrectly set money supply caused markets to behave erratically.
Monetarism gained prominence in the 1970s. In 1979, with U.S. inflation peaking at 20 percent, the Fed switched its operating strategy to reflect monetarist theory.
Reference
CFI EDUCATION INC. Monetarist Theory. Last accessed 3 February 2022: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetarist-theory/
OSIKHOTSALI MOMOH.(2021, July 25).Monetarism: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp
THE INVESTOPEDIA TEAM.(2021, August 29). Monetary Policy: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarypolicy.asp
Hi, my name is AGBO ANNASTECIA ONYEDIKACHI.
MY name is AGBO ANNASTECIA ONYEDIKACHI I am a student of University of Nigeria nsukka in faculty of education department of social science education ( economics education).
Monetarism is a fundamental macroeconomic theory that focuses on the importance of the money supply as a key economic force. This theory holds that money supply is a primary determinant of price levels and inflation. Increasing money supply, according to the theory, inevitably leads to higher prices and inflation, while decreasing the money supply leads to deflation and risks, causing a recession. Changes in the money supply also affect employment and production levels, but the monetarist theory asserts that those effects are only temporary, while the effect on inflation is more long lasting and significant.
Monetarists say that central banks are more powerful than the government because they control the money supply. They also tend to watch real interest rates rather than nominal rates. Most published rates are nominal rates, while real rates remove the effects of inflation. Real rates give a truer picture of the cost of money.
Eze Queen Amarachi
2019/249427
Social science education (Education Economics)
NAME; Ugwu Sarah chinecherem
DEPARTMENT; Economics Education
REG NUMBER; 2019/241843
MONETARISM AND MONETARIST SYSTEM
Monetarism is an economic theory that says the money supply is the most important driver of economic growth. As the money supply increases, people demand more. Factories produce more, creating new jobs.
Monetarists (believers of the monetarism theory) warn that increasing the money supply only provides a temporary boost to economic growth and job creation. Over the long run, increasing the money supply increases inflation. As demand outstrips supply, prices will rise to match.
MONETARIST believe monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy (government spending and tax policy). Stimulus spending adds to the money supply, but it creates a deficit adding to a country’s sovereign debt that could increase interest rates.