The K-A-T Framework: Macro-Financial Propagation across Funding Constraints, Input-Output Networks, and Policy Backstops

We propose K-A-T as a unified framework for macro-financial propagation linking (i) funding and collateral constraints (K), (ii) network amplification (A) via the Leontief inverse on input-output and financial-network adjacency matrices, and (iii) policy backstop credibility (T) modeled as a put option on funding costs. The framework yields a closed-form half-life expression HL = ln 2 / (lambda_T + mu_i), with lambda_T proportional to T, and the central testable prediction that as T -> 0 the half-life remains finite, bounded above by the natural decay rate. Validation is provided by a hierarchical Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis of ten historical T-shock episodes, with grand-mean half-life compression of -64.9% (95% CI [-75.5%, -49.8%]). The February-April 2026 private credit gate cascade is held out as a posterior predictive check. The K-A-T monolith combines theory, LP-IV panel evidence, the disclosure-anchored DFAST extension, and the CPCRF policy proposal in a single piece. Companion papers separate the theory and empirical contributions.