Public debt is a burden on future electors and taxpayers. In the absence of constitutional constraints, the incumbent government may show the cost of some public expenditures or tax reductions toward the future by financing them via new debt. However, according to the Ricardian theorem of public...

Two equilibrium possibilities are known to obtain in a standard overlapping-generations model with dynastic preferences: either the altruistic bequest motive is operative for every generation (in which case, Ricardian equivalence obtains) or it is not, for any generation. Dynamic equilibria,...

This article considers an alternative methodology nested on super exogeneity tests to verify the occurrence of Ricardian quivalence. The advantage of this new procedure is based on the intuitive appeal and the statistical procedure, more appropriated than the econometric techniques previously...

This article explores whether fiscal policy has still a role to play in the current economies, focusing on its stabilizing role. First of all, the main effects of fiscal policy on economic activity are examined according to the traditional views, presenting next some criticism to this approach....

This paper tests whether the Ricardian Equivalence proposition holds in a life cycle consumption laboratory experiment. This proposition is a fundamental assumption underlying numerous studies on intertemporal choice and has important implications for tax policy. Using nonparametric and panel...

We show that Keynesian multiplier effects can be obtained in dynamic optimizing models if one combines both price rigidities and a "non Ricardian" framework where, due for example to the birth of new agents, Ricardian equivalence does not hold.

We study a model with heterogeneous producers that face collateral and cash-in-advance constraints. These two frictions give rise to a nontrivial financial market in a monetary economy. A tightening of the collateral constraint results in a recession generated by a credit crunch. The model can...

Does a change in the public׳s holdings of government debt affect the term structure of interest rates? Empirical analysis using a VAR model indicates that a rise in these holdings of the real debt-to-GDP ratio increases both the three-month and ten-year U.S. nominal yields in a statistically...

Economists are widely familiar with the Ricardian equivalence thesis. It maintains that, given the time-path of government spending, a change in taxation does not alter the set of feasible life-time consumption plans of the households and affects neither the demand for commodities and services...

This note identifies a severe mistake in my article “Unexpected Consequences of Ricardian Expectations” that appeard in this journal in the July 2013 issue.