Full Employment as a Possible Objective for EU Policy I. A Perspective From the Point of View of The Monetary Circuit

Abstract

In two recent contributions Alain Parguez and Jean-Gabriel Bliek argued in favor of assigning a full employment objective to European economic policies and their coordination (Bliek and Parguez (2007) and Parguez (2007b)). Their argument is based on the approach of the monetary circuit, whose treatment of full employment is the object of this article. The approach is presented here as emblematic of 'out of equilibrium' models, i.e. models where the equilibrium conditions of pure competition are not fulfilled. A forthcoming contribution will show how the description of economic reality suggested by the circuit can help interpreting recent macroeconomic developments in the US, Canada, Japan and the EU and will discuss some empirical studies confirming its relevance for policy analysis.

Key words: Unemployment, Capacity Utilisation, Circuit, Disequilibrium, Investment, Savings, Price Equation.
JEL: D5, E12, H5, H6, E4.