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Political economy of taxation in an overlapping-generations economy

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  • Marco Bassetto

Abstract

This paper builds a simple but complete model of a political system to analyze the effects of intergenerational conflicts on capital and labor income tax rates, transfers, and government spending. I show how the different nature of tax liabilities for the young and the old can explain why the old receive large gross lump-sum transfers through social security, while the young receive little or none. I also show that there is a natural link between the size of the government as a provider of public goods and the magnitude of transfers that the same government will implement.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Bassetto, 1999. "Political economy of taxation in an overlapping-generations economy," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 133, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmem:133
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxation;

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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