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Educational purposes only, not financial advice. Graphl teaches which economic framework applies and how its mechanism works; it does not solve assessment problems for you.

  1. Library
  2. /
  3. Keynesian Cross
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  5. Scenario

Macro Foundations · intro

Austerity contracts income by a multiple

What moves on the Keynesian Cross diagram

  • PEshifts down (small)

Lower autonomous spending shifts the planned expenditure line down, reducing equilibriumequilibriumThe point where opposing forces balance, quantity supplied equals quantity demanded, so there's no pressure for price to change. output by a multiple of the initial cut through the multipliermultiplierThe amount total output changes per dollar of initial spending change, powered by respending: 1/(1−MPC) in the simplest case. process.

Watch it animateQuiz yourself on Keynesian Cross

Step by step

  1. 1

    Start at equilibriumequilibriumThe point where opposing forces balance, quantity supplied equals quantity demanded, so there's no pressure for price to change., where planned spending equals output.

  2. 2

    To cut the deficit, the government slashes programs and public sector jobs.

  3. 3

    The expenditure line drops, and equilibriumequilibriumThe point where opposing forces balance, quantity supplied equals quantity demanded, so there's no pressure for price to change. slides down the 45-degree line.

  4. 4

    Income falls by more than the spending cut. This is why austerity in a downturn can shrink the tax base it was meant to protect.

Where this shows up

Examiners ask this as: austerity, spending cuts, fiscal consolidation, contractionary, budget repair.

Other scenarios on Keynesian Cross

Stimulus meets the multiplier →The paradox of thrift →Consumers spend a bigger share →An infrastructure program multiplies through →Fear makes households save each extra dollar →An export boom injects demand from abroad →