Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery: The Case of the 1936 Veterans' Bonus

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hausman, Joshua K.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20130957
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 1100-1143
• 关键词: great-depression; federal-grants; consumption; STATES; stimulate; credit; unemployment; expenditure; multiplier; end

摘要

Conventional wisdom has it that in the 1930s fiscal policy did not work because it was not tried. This paper shows that fiscal policy was tried in 1936. The veterans' bonus of 1936 paid 2 percent of GDP to 3.2 million veterans; the typical veteran received a payment equal to per capita income. Multiple sources, including a household consumption survey, show that veterans spent the majority of their bonus. Point estimates of the MPC are between 0.6 and 0.75. Spending was concentrated on cars and housing in particular.