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Capital income taxation and the sustainability of permanent primary deficits

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Author Info
Uhlig, H. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research)

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Abstract

If a government imposes a tax on capital income, it may, as a result, lower the private rate of return on capital below the growth rate of an economy, thereby giving rise to the possibility of running a permanent deficit. Since, however, the before-tax rate of return and not the after-tax rate of return is relevant for judging the dynamical efficiency of the economy, the possibility of a permanent deficit does not by itself imply a possibility for a Pareto-improving redistribution of income. To examine this issue "step by step", we examine in general whether a government can run a deficit forever by rolling over its debt. Assuming the government to run a deficit in each period equal to a constant fraction of total output, we study several overlapping generations models, proceeding from endowment economies to neoclassical growth with a variable capital stock. We then introduce capital income taxation and show, for example, that permanent deficits are feasible in the case of a variable capital stock, provided the capi tal income tax is sufficiently high. We examine the welfare effects and discuss policy consequences.

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Paper provided by Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research in its series Discussion Paper with number 11.

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Date of creation: 1997
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:kubcen:199711

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Paul Krugman, 1997. "The Age of Diminished Expectations, 3rd Edition: U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262611341.
  2. Eisner, Robert, 1992. "Deficits: Which, How Much, and So What?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 295-98, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. S. Rao Aiyagari, 1985. "Deficits, interest rates, and the tax distribution," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win. [Downloadable!]
  4. Benjamin M. Friedman, 1992. "Learning From the Reagan Deficits," NBER Working Papers 4022, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Vickrey, William, 1992. "Meaningfully Defining Deficits and Debt," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 305-10, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Cass, David, 1972. "On capital overaccumulation in the aggregative, neoclassical model of economic growth: A complete characterization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 200-223, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. V.V. Chari, 1988. "Time consistency and optimal policy design," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Fall, pages 17-31. [Downloadable!]
  8. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Lans Bovenberg & Carel Petersen, 1992. "Public debt and pension policy," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, August.
  10. Buiter, Willem H & Kletzer, Kenneth M, 1992. "Who's Afraid of the Public Debt?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 290-94, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Auerbach, Alan J & Gokhale, Jagadeesh & Kotlikoff, Laurence J, 1994. "Generational Accounting: A Meaningful Way to Evaluate Fiscal Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 73-94, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Supply-Side Economics: An Analytical Review," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(2), pages 293-316, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Willem H. Buiter & K.M. Kletzer, 1994. "Ponzi Finance, Government Solvency and the Redundancy or Usefulness of Public Debt," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1070, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  14. Andrew B. Abel & N. Gregory Mankiw & Lawrence H. Summers & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 1989. "Assessing Dynamic Efficiency: Theory and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 2097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Uhlig, Harald & Yanagawa, Noriyuki, 1996. "Increasing the capital income tax may lead to faster growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1521-1540, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Buiter, Willem H. & Patel, Urjit R., 1992. "Debt, deficits, and inflation: An application to the public finances of India," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 171-205, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Balasko, Yves & Shell, Karl, 1980. "The overlapping-generations model, I: The case of pure exchange without money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 281-306, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Atkinson, A B & Sandmo, A, 1980. "Welfare Implications of the Taxation of Savings," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(359), pages 529-49, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Willem H. Buiter, 1993. "Public Debt in the USA: How Much, How Bad and Who Pays?," NBER Working Papers 4362, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Broer, D Peter & Westerhout, Ed W M T & Bovenberg, A Lans, 1994. " Taxation, Pensions and Saving in a Small Open Economy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 96(3), pages 403-24.
  21. Tirole, Jean, 1985. "Asset Bubbles and Overlapping Generations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1499-1528, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Bohn, Henning, 1995. "The Sustainability of Budget Deficits in a Stochastic Economy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(1), pages 257-71, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Friedman, Benjamin M, 1992. "Learning from the Reagan Deficits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 299-304, May.
  24. Martin Eichenbaum & Neil Wallace, 1985. "A shred of evidence on public acceptance of privately issued currency," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win. [Downloadable!]
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  1. de la Croix, David & Michel, Philippe, 1999. "National Debt Sustainability and the Dynamics in the Economy of Diamond," Discussion Papers (IRES - Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales) 1999015, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES). [Downloadable!]
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