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Debt and Taxes in the Theory of Public Finance

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  • Martin Feldstein

Abstract

If a specified amount of government spending must be financed, how should that finance be divided between taxes and government borrowing? In the case of a temporary increase in government spending, it has been argued that debt finance is optimal because the small increments in all future tax rates to finance interest payments involves a smaller excess burden than the single large tax rate increase that would be required to avoid an initial increase in the national debt. This argument ignores the excess burden of debt finance that results if the initial capital stock is smaller than optimal (e.g., because of taxes or capital income).The first section of the present paper shows how the debt-finance advantage of a small increase in tax rates can be explicitly balanced against the disadvantage of the excess burden that arises from additional debt. The analysis shows that, with plausible parameter values, the excess burden of debt finance is likely to outweigh the advantage of avoiding a large single tax change and therefore that financing a temporary increase in government spending by an immediate tax increase is likely to be preferable to debt financing.The second section examines the appropriate response to a permanent increase in government spending and shows that such spending cannot be financed by a permanent increase in government debt. Moreover, whenever the golden rule level of capital intensity is an optimality condition independent of the level of government spending, any increase in government spending should be matched by an equal increase in tax revenue.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Feldstein, 1984. "Debt and Taxes in the Theory of Public Finance," NBER Working Papers 1433, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1433
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    1. Feldstein, Martin & Dicks-Mireaux, Louis & Poterba, James, 1983. "The effective tax rate and the pretax rate of return," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 129-158, July.
    2. 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..
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    4. Barro, Robert J, 1979. "On the Determination of the Public Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 940-971, October.
    5. Knut Wicksell, 1958. "A New Principle of Just Taxation," International Economic Association Series, in: Richard A. Musgrave & Alan T. Peacock (ed.), Classics in the Theory of Public Finance, pages 72-118, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. J. E. Meade, 1958. "Is The National Debt A Burden?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 163-183.
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    2. Hristov, Nikolay & Hülsewig, Oliver & Kolb, Benedikt, 2024. "Macroprudential capital regulation and fiscal balances in the euro area," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    3. Elmendorf, Douglas W. & Gregory Mankiw, N., 1999. "Government debt," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 25, pages 1615-1669, Elsevier.
    4. Myungsoon Hur, 2001. "The Impact of Debt Financing on the Level of Capital Spending," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 91-101, December.
    5. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1987. "Ricardian Equivalence: An Evaluation of Theory and Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1987, Volume 2, pages 263-316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Emily Poole & Carl Toohey & Peter Harris, 2014. "Public Infrastructure: A Framework for Decision-making," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Alexandra Heath & Matthew Read (ed.),Financial Flows and Infrastructure Financing, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    7. Roger D. Congleton, 1988. "An Overview of the Contractarian Public Finance of James Buchanan," Public Finance Review, , vol. 16(2), pages 131-157, April.
    8. Narayan, Laxmi, 2017. "Growth of Public Debt in Haryana – Dynamism or Misplaced Priorities," MPRA Paper 79431, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 May 2017.
    9. Trostel, Philip A., 1995. "The Effect of Deficit Finance on Human Capital," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 48(4), pages 531-546, December.
    10. Kevin Luo & Tomoko Kinugasa & Kai Kajitani, 2018. "Dynamic efficiency in world economy," Discussion Papers 1801, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    11. Trostel, Philip A., 1995. "The Effect of Deficit Finance on Human Capital," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 48(4), pages 531-46, December.

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