Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies

摘要: Politics Alberto Alesina Influences from political competition on macroeconomic policy are often thought to be a source of economic fluctuations. Politicians described as being driven by two, not mutually exclusive, main motivations: they want reelected and harbour political, or ideological, biases. When such theories confronted with actual cycles in number industrial countries, the pattern inflation, unemployment, output, budget deficits indicates that partisan making is fairly widespread phenomenon, more limited evidence electoral preoccupations result major The combination partisanship may easily socially undesirable outcomes. In particular degree politico-institutional stability independence Central Bank have bearing These observations raise important questions about design institutions.