We derive the optimal fiscal policy for a government which is committed to honour its debts but faces investors which fear that a sovereign default might instead happen. We assume that investors are able to learn from new evidence, as in Marcet and Sargent (1989), so that they can correct over...

In this paper I follow Abel and Kotlikoff 1994 non-parametric approach based on consumption cohort data to test for intergenerational altruism among Italian households. The Italian socio-economic framework represents an interesting ground to test for the Barro’s 1974 model given the stronger...

Il presente lavoro confronta gli incentivi al prolungamento dell'attività lavorativa impliciti nei tre regimi pensionistici attualmente esistenti in Italia: il retributivo (così come modificato dalla riforma "Amato" del 1992), il contributivo a capitalizzazione nozionale (introdotto nel 1995...

According to a recent, highly detailed, and conservative estimate by Gokhale and Smetters (2005), the present value difference between the U.S. government's projected future expenditures and its projected future tax receipts exceeds $60 trillion. Closing this enormous fiscal gap requires a...

To contrast the severe global recession of 2009, governments in most advanced countries implemented expansionary fiscal policies leading to a steep increase in public debt. As economies recover, a critical choice is whether to stabilize debt at post-crisis levels, or to bring it down to...

We compute the value of the net taxes that current policies impose to present and future generations of Italians. We use such figures to show that current fiscal policies are neither financially sustainable nor fair to future generations. This is due to the generous treatment awarded to past and...

This paper determines the standard of living reductions that young, middle aged, and older households would experience were the U.S. government to cut Social Security benefits (but not taxes) to deal with its well documented (see Gokhale and Smetters, 2005) long-term fiscal crisis. To determine...

This paper analyzes the size and the determinants of unexpected changes in EU countries' tax revenues and their impact on the ability of EU governments to use fiscal policy as a macroeconomic stabilisation device. We make use of information taken from the Stability and Convergence Programmes...

We derive the optimal fiscal policy for a government that is committed to honoring its debt but faces investors which fear a sovereign default. We assume that investors are able to learn from new evidence, as in Marcet and Sargent (1989), so that they can gradually correct their overly...