University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1421, USA

Abstract

This paper reports empirical evidence on the relation between government budget deficits and the growth of high-powered money in the United States. High-powered money growth appears to be positively related to war spending during periods when such spending is a substantial fraction of GNP. There is little evidence that the growth of high-powered money is related to the non-war government deficit, measured either in cash or in real terms, after controlling for the level of overall economic activity.