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Free keywords:
Dynamic inefficiency, fiscal policy, public debt, overlapping-generations models with land, transaction costs, pay-as-you-go retirement provision
JEL:
D61 - Allocative Efficiency; Cost–Benefit Analysis
JEL:
C15 - Statistical Simulation Methods: General
JEL:
E21 - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
JEL:
E62 - Fiscal Policy
JEL:
H63 - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
Abstract:
In the discussion whether real interest rates smaller than real growth rates can be taken as evidence of dynamic inefficiency that calls for fiscal interventions, a seemingly killing objection points to land, a non-produced
durable asset in positive supply, as a reason why dynamic inefficiency can be ruled out. If real interest rates were expected to be below real growth rates forever, the value of land would be unbounded, which is incompatible with equilibrium. The paper shows that this objection is not robust to the presence of an arbitrarily small per-unit-of-value transaction cost. The paper also specifies fiscal interventions that provide for Pareto improvements even though they involve a resource cost. For the debate about public debt policy, the land argument is a red herring because it is incompatible with the presence of fiat money and debt denominated in units of fiat money.
