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Overaccumulation, Public Debt, and the Importance of Land

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  • Homburg, Stefan

Abstract

In recent contributions, Weizsäcker (2014) and Summers (2014) maintain that mature economies accumulate too much capital. They suggest large and lasting public deficits as a remedy. This paper argues that overaccumulation cannot occur in an economy with land. It presents novel data of aggregate land values, analyzes the issue in a stochastic framework, and conducts an empirical test of overaccumulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Homburg, Stefan, 2014. "Overaccumulation, Public Debt, and the Importance of Land," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-525, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    • Handle: RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-525
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. On forgetting land in models of secular stagnation
      by Nick Rowe in Worthwhile Canadian Initiative on 2014-04-11 16:22:19

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    2. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2017. "What Marx Means Today," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 229-239, June.
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    4. Knolle, Julia, 2020. "Prosperity in a Low Interest Environment," MPRA Paper 104332, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Julia, Knolle, 2014. "An Empirical Comparison of Interest and Growth Rates," MPRA Paper 59520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Martin F. Hellwig, 2023. "Overlapping-Generations Economies under Uncertainty: Dynamic Inefficiency/Efficiency with Multiple Assets and no Labour," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2023_04, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    7. Martin F. Hellwig, 2021. "Safe Assets, Risky Assets, and Dynamic Inefficiency in Overlapping-Generations Economies," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2021_10, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    8. Kleczka, Mitja, 2015. "Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, and Secular Stagnation at the Zero Lower Bound. A View on the Eurozone," MPRA Paper 67228, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Siemers Lars-H. & Gebhardt Heinz, 2020. "Die strukturelle Besserung der Länderfinanzen in der Niedrigzinsphase: die trügerische Leichtigkeit des Scheins," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 21(1), pages 54-78, April.
    10. Carl Christian von Weizsäcker, 2017. "Leviathan – Zum Gewaltmonopol des Staates – Wider den Protektionismus," ROME Working Papers 201701, ROME Network.
    11. van Suntum, Ulrich, 2018. "The natural interest rate in OLG modelling: A rehabilitation," CAWM Discussion Papers 103, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    12. Homburg, Stefan, 2017. "A Study in Monetary Macroeconomics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198807537, Decembrie.
    13. Knolle, Julia & Lehmann, Kai, 2016. "An Empirical Assessment of Global Capital Productivity," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-574, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    14. Kevin Luo & Tomoko Kinugasa & Kai Kajitani, 2018. "Dynamic efficiency in world economy," Discussion Papers 1801, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    15. Bofinger, Peter & Schnabel, Isabel & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Wieland, Volker, 2015. "Zukunftsfähigkeit in den Mittelpunkt. Jahresgutachten 2015/16 [Focus on Future Viability. Annual Report 2015/16]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201516.
    16. Hellwig Martin F., 2022. "Dynamic inefficiency and fiscal interventions in an economy with land and transaction costs," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(1), pages 21-60, February.
    17. von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian, 2017. "Leviathan-Zum Gewaltmonopol des Staates-Wider den Protektionismus," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168219, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Martin Hellwig, 2021. "Der Zinssatz ist kein Preis [The Interest Rate Should not be Interpreted as a Price]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(11), pages 862-869, November.
    19. Stefano Di Bucchianico, 2021. "Negative Interest Rate Policy to Fight Secular Stagnation: Unfeasible, Ineffective, Irrelevant, or Inadequate?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 687-710, October.
    20. Michael Wolgast, 2016. "Das gegenwärtige Niedrigzinsumfeld aus Sicht der Sparkassen," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 85(1), pages 11-29.
    21. Spahn, Peter, 2016. "Population growth, saving, interest rates and stagnation: Discussing the Eggertsson-Mehrotra model," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 04-2016, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    22. von Weizsäcker Carl Christian, 2015. "Kapitalismus in der Krise?," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 189-212, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dynamic efficiency; overaccumulation; land; fiscal policy; public debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation

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