Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Policy – Summary - Part 1
Monetary review, 3rd Quarter 2012

Fiscal policy plays a key role in economic stabilisation policy. This article provides
a non-technical summary of a number of analyses of the effects of fiscal policy
presented in Part 2 of this Monetary Review. Overall, the empirical findings show
that fiscal policy in Denmark may have a significant impact on real gross
domestic product, GDP, but that the effect is relatively short-lived. Thus the
effect on GDP of fiscal expansion gradually dies out as the stimulus itself is
removed. The article also presents an analysis of the effects of fiscal policy in a
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model, DSGE model, which, in some
respects, is based on very different model assumptions from those applied in a
macroeconometric model such as MONA. This analysis shows that although the
underlying mechanisms of the results differ in some respects, MONA and a DSGE
model for Denmark produce relatively similar estimates of the effects on GDP of
a temporary debt-financed fiscal expansion aimed at stabilising the business
cycle.