Finance, Inflation and Employment: A Post-Keynesian/Kaleckian Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the post-Keynesian/Kaleckian macroeconomic literature. We develop a macroeconomic model that explicitly integrates the role of borrowing and cash payment commitments on outstanding debt (interest plus principal repayment) into the consumption and investment expenditures, as well as into the inflation-generating process. We explore the way that finance influences the distribution effects of inflation in the demand-side of a money/credit-using economy; we suggest a new Phillips curve that encapsulates the impact of financial commitments on wage and profit claims. We argue that high debt and cash payment commitments are likely to be associated with a positive demand-side effect of inflation on the rate of employment; and that they might be conducive to a negative supply-side effect of employment on the inflation rate.

Keywords: Phillips curve, Finance, Debt payment commitments, Post-Keynesian/Kaleckian macroeconomics

JEL Classification: E12, E24, E31