The Fallacy of the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level

It is not common for an entire scholarly literature to be based on a fallacy, that is, 'on faulty reasoning; misleading or unsound argument'. The 'fiscal theory of the price level', recently re-developed by Woodford, Cochrane, Sims and others, is an example of a fatally flawed research programme.

鲜有整套学术文献均建立在谬误之上的情形——所谓谬误，即“基于错误推理、存在误导性或不健全的论证”。由伍德福德、科克伦、西姆斯等人近年重新发展的价格水平财政理论（fiscal theory of the price level），便是一个存在致命缺陷的研究纲领的典型范例。