Political Business Cycles

This is a collection of articles on how the government influences the economy in order to secure re-election. The economy is steered such that unemployment and inflation are as low as possible, and the growth of real income as high as possible during the election period. The collection contains forerunners to the analysis of this phenomenon, surveys emphasizing different aspects, empirical and the major theoretical approaches (vote maximization, partisan, and vote-cum-partisan models and rational political business cycles. The collection provides extensions including the role of the central bank, of direct democracy and the particular cycles in East European communist countries. Finally, the policy relevance is discussed.