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INTEREST RATES, EXPECTED FUTURE DEFICITS AND TAX PROPOSALS
Author(s) -
Johnson Colleen F.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1991.tb01265.x
Subject(s) - economics , legislature , legislation , variable (mathematics) , interest rate , public economics , legislative process , macroeconomics , political science , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Several recent publications have presented evidence suggesting a negative wealth effect in response to federal deficits. This paper investigates the hypothesis that rational economic agents use the legislative process to forecast the future path of federal deficits and then act on that information. A tax legislation variable, included in a reduced form interest rate equation, is tested for significance. The legislative variable that mirrors the effects of current and past deficits is often significant.