This paper investigates the determinants of real interest rates at world and country level. The starting point is the idea that the real interest rates reflect the interaction of desired saving and planned investment, using the framework developed by Barro and Sala-i- Martin (1990) and Barro (1992).

The Macroeconomic analysis of fiscal policy is usually based on one of two canonical models--the Barro-Ramsey model of infinitely-lived families or the Diamond-Samuelson model of overlapping generations. This paper argues that neither model is satisfactory and suggests an alternative. In the...

Long ago I began teaching my students that they should consider knowledge to be like health rather than like wealth. That is, knowledge is not something quantifiable that you can have more of, instead, it is something that can be improved. Being a student of Karl Popper' philosophy science, this...

The paper derives and tests maximum likelihood parameter estimators for symmetrically correlated Weiner processes observed at discrete intervals. Such processes are arise when pricing and determining Value-at-Risk for portfolio derivatives. Cases of driftless and mean-reverting state variables...

We propose a model of a random normal game for given (finite nonempty) sets of players and pure strategies; this model is shown to be canonical in a certain sense.

The objective of this paper is to determine how finite dimensional parameters can be efficiently estimated for an important class of economic models.

We develop regression-based tests of hypotheses about out of sample prediction errors. Representative tests include ones for zero mean and zero correlation between a prediction error and a vector of predictors. The relevant environments are ones in which predictions depend on estimated...

We study the effects of a change in some exogenous variable (the fixed cost or a parameter in the payoff functions) on the strategies played in a Symmetric Cournot Equilibrium with Free Entry (SCEFE). We also show that any observation on prices, profits and number of firms is compatible with the...