ABSTRACT

Minsky, the father of the financial instability hypothesis was concerned with how instability in business sector balance sheets could contribute to overall financial instability. Minsky did not consider the household balance to be important, and until 1990 taking that perspective was not problematic. However, as the level of household net wealth increased significantly through the 1990s, the household sector became an important player in the financial sector balances game. This article analyzes the role of household debt in economic growth from the post-Keynesian approach. We find that household debt does matter to financial stability. It influences the consumption levels of households, the rate of return on mortgage and other debt held by banks and other financial institutions, the rate of return on the production of goods and services, and the overall well-being of households in our economy. The issue of household debt can be tackled from two sides. From the income side, creating a work environment favorable to unions and a job guarantee program would help. From the expenditure side, providing Medicare, childcare, eldercare, higher education, and potentially housing, would remove the reasons why household acquire sometimes unsustainable debt.

摘要

金融不稳定假说之父明斯基关注商业部门资产负债表的不稳定如何导致整体金融不稳定。明斯基并不认为家庭收支平衡很重要，直到 1990 年，持这种观点才没有问题。然而，随着家庭净财富水平在 1990 年代显着增加，家庭部门成为金融部门平衡游戏的重要参与者。本文从后凯恩斯主义的角度分析了家庭债务在经济增长中的作用。我们发现家庭债务对金融稳定确实很重要。它影响家庭的消费水平、银行和其他金融机构持有的抵押贷款和其他债务的回报率、商品和服务生产的回报率、以及我们经济中家庭的整体福祉。家庭债务问题可以从两个方面解决。从收入方面来说，创造有利于工会的工作环境和就业保障计划将有所帮助。从支出方面来看，提供医疗保险、儿童保育、老年护理、高等教育和可能的住房，将消除家庭有时背负不可持续债务的原因。