In this paper, I present a theory of dynamic economic growth, business cycles, and asset pricing that integrates (1) Marx's idea (and emphasized by Klein) of a two-class heterogeneity of the ownership structure of physical capital and human capital in a capitalist society, (2) Keynes' idea of...

In this paper, we characterize the relationship between the initial distribution of human capital and physical inheritances among individuals and the long-run distribution of these two variables. In a model with indivisible investment in education, we analyze how the initial distribution of...

The publication of the book Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Piketty helped to increase the debate about the prospects of the evolution of income and wealth inequality in this century. One of the main controversies is about the effects to the income and wealth inequalities of a decrease in...

We document in US data that returns to wealth across households are significantly heterogeneous, and persistently so. Motivated by this observation, we build a tractable general equilibrium model where households face persistent idiosyncratic returns to study the US wealth distribution. We show...

The distribution of asset holdings among US banks is increasingly concentrated toward a few large banks at the top. Concurrently, the household wealth inequality has increased. This paper provides a theoretical link between these empirical facts, by developing a novel quantitative general...

The two-sector specific factor model is typically used in the theory of international trade where it helps to clarify the principle of comparative advantage. Instead, we use this model as explicit theoretical framework to explain major trends of long-run economic development. Combined with...

The two-sector specific factor model is typically used in the theory of international trade where it helps to clarify the principle of comparative advantage. Instead, we use this model as explicit theoretical framework to explain major trends of long-run economic development. Combined with...

Japan is in the midst of a protracted spell of depressed economic activity. Japan's economic stagnation has occurred against a background of rising earnings risk. Occupational stability is falling as routine occupations disappear and implicit lifetime employment guarantees are gradually...

We study how mortality reductions and income growth interact, looking at their relationship prior to the Industrial Revolution, when income per capita was stagnant. We first present a model of individual medical spending giving a rationale for individual health expenditures even when medicine...