Question #480

The government can always support private domestic sector saving in nominal terms by increasing the budget deficit and stimulating aggregate demand and national income.

Answer #2837

Answer: False

Explanation

The answer is False.

This answer should be read as a complement to the discussion in Question 1 as it also can be considered in terms of the sectoral balances.

If the external balance is zero (that is, net exports equal zero) the there is a one-to-one correspondence between the government balance and the private domestic sector balance such that, for example, a 2 per cent budget deficit must be associated with a 2 per cent private domestic sector balance surplus.

So in this circumstance the answer would be true.

But things get complicated when we introduce positive or negative external balances. Then a 2 per cent budget deficit might be associated with a 3 per cent external deficit and so the private domestic sector balance will be in deficit.

So the answer is only true if the budget deficit is larger (as a percent of GDP) than the external balance and growing faster.