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Should Generational Accounts Replace Public Budgets and Deficits?

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Author Info
Haveman, Robert

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Abstract

The author assesses the concept of 'generational accounts' and the specific accounts constructed by Alan Auerbach, Jagadeesh Gokhale, and Laurence Kotlikoff (1991). Although these accounts support the assertion of present-orientation in fiscal policy, they rest on numerous assumptions based on judgments that are open to question. These involve the treatment of the public budget constraint, the benefits from public exhaustive expenditures, economic and population projections, the discount rate, and fiscal incidence. Alternative and equally reasonable assumptions could yield radically different conclusions. The author concludes that the Auerbach, Gokhale, and Kotlikoff accounts should not replace the annual public budget, as they argue. Copyright 1994 by American Economic Association.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 8 (1994)
Issue (Month): 1 (Winter)
Pages: 95-111
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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:8:y:1994:i:1:p:95-111

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  1. Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg & Reinhard Koman & Erik Lüth & Bernd Raffelüschen, 2000. "Public Debt and Generational Balance in Austria," Empirica, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 225-252, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Robert Fenge & Martin Werding, 2003. "Ageing and Fiscal Imbalances Across Generations: Concepts of Measurement," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  3. Gemma Abío & Eduard Berenguer & Holger Bonin & Joan Gil & Concepció Patxot, . "Is the Deficit under Control? A Generational Accounting Perspective on Fiscal Policy and Labour Market Trends in Spain," Working Papers 2001-06, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Gandenberger, Otto, 2000. "Is the Fiscal Deficit Misconceived? Proponents of Generational Accounting Overstate their Case," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  5. A. Bovenberg & Harry Rele, 2000. "Generational Accounts for The Netherlands: An Update," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 411-430, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Xavier Chojnicki & Frederic Docquier, 2003. "Fiscal Policy and Educational Attainment in the United States - A Generational Accounting Perspective," Public Economics 0303002, EconWPA, revised 18 Mar 2004. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Akim A. Tairou, 1997. "Phenomenology of financial vulnerability in French municipalities of 2,000 to 10,000 inhabitants," Public Economics 9705002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  8. M. Collado & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe & Guadalupe Valera, 2004. "Quantifying the Impact of Immigration on the Spanish Welfare State," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 335-353, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2001. "Generational Policy," NBER Working Papers 8163, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • Kotlikoff, Laurence J., 2002. "Generational policy," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 27, pages 1873-1932 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Bonin, Holger, 2001. "Fiskalische Effekte der Zuwanderung nach Deutschland - Eine Generationenbilanz," IZA Discussion Papers 305, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Marc Robinson, 2000. "Accrual Accounting And The Public Sector," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 086, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology. [Downloadable!]
  12. Pascal Belan, 1998. "Transferts intergénérationnels : étude dans une petite économie ouverte," Annales d'Economie et de Statistique, ADRES, issue 52, pages 08, Octobre-D. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1995. "Restoring generational balance in U.S. fiscal policy: what will it take?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Q I, pages 2-12. [Downloadable!]
  14. Holger Bonin & Joan Gil & Concepció Patxot, . "Beyond the Toledo agreement: The intergenerational impact of the Spanish pension reform," Studies on the Spanish Economy 38, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. James Banks & Carl Emmerson, 2000. "Public and private pension spending: principles, practice and the need for reform," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 1-63, March. [Downloadable!]
  16. Keuschnigg, Christian & Keuschnigg, Mirela & Koman, Reinhard, 2000. "Public Debt and Generational Balance in Austria Lueth, Erik; Raffelhueschen, Bernd," Economics Series 80, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
  17. Nick Draper & Alex Armstrong, 2007. "GAMMA, a Simulation Model for Ageing, Pensions and Public Finances," CPB Documents 147, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  18. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1994. "The 1995 budget and health care reform: a generational perspective," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Q I, pages 20-30. [Downloadable!]
  19. Bonin, Holger, 2002. "Eine fiskalische Gesamtbilanz der Zuwanderung nach Deutschland," IZA Discussion Papers 516, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  20. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Bernd Raffelhuschen, 1999. "Generational Accounting around the Globe," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 161-166, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Muriel Bouchet, 2003. "The sustainability of the private sector pension system from a long-term perspective: the case of Luxembourg," BCL working papers 6, Central Bank of Luxembourg. [Downloadable!]
  22. André Masson, 2001. "Méthodes et usages des comptes générationnels : un regard décalé," DELTA Working Papers 2001-13, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  23. Jagadeesh Gokhale & Bernd Raffelhuschen & Jan Walliser, 1994. "The burden of German unification: a generational accounting approach," Working Paper 9412, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. [Downloadable!]
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