This paper restates the government budget constraint and addresses the issue Abstract of symmetry (asymmetry, as it turns out) between the definitions of monetary
and fiscal policy, as originally advanced by Blinder and Solow. The emphasis is
on the arbitrary definition of monetary policy. It suits their convenience, but
renders their approach inoperative. A consideration of several analytical,
operational, and definitional problems constitutes a defense of the monetarist
position on the government budget constraint.
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