In this paper we focus on the theoretical issue of the efficiency or neutrality of public debt in growth models with capital accumulation. We show, considering several OLG models, that this is the decision of the households in terms of bequests that matters for the validity of the Ricardian...

This paper reviews the arguments which can justify government intervention in health care and health insurance. It is shown that moral hazard or adverse selection do not appear to justify public intervention. The two main arguments in favor of public health insurance appear to be its lower...

It is often argued that implicit taxation on continued activity of elderly workers is responsible for the widely observed trend towards early retirement. In a world of laissez-faire or of first-best efficiency, there would be no such implicit taxation. This raises the question of whether a bias...

This note presents and discusses a number of questionable assertions on retirement and on policies aimed at fostering labor participation among elderly workers. We show that these assertions are fallacious or at best highly questionable.