In a dynamic optimising model with costly tax collection, a tax cut by one nation creates positive externalities for the rest of the world if initial public debt stocks are positive. By reducing tax collection costs, current tax cuts boost the resources available for current private consumption,...

In this paper we calibrate the social cost of optimal taxes in a class of imperfectly competitive economies and examine the correspondence of this social cost with the number of tax instruments and the number and the sources of distortions. We calibrate the Ramsey equilibrium for three standard...

This paper studies optimal taxation in an overlapping generations economy. We characterize the optimal path of fiscal policy, both in the long run and in the transition to the steady state. The implications of this study are in sharp contrast with the prescription offered by infinitely-lived...