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A New Structure for U.S. Federal Debt

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  • John H. Cochrane

Abstract

This paper proposes a new structure for U.S. Federal debt. It argues that all debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment. The paper introduces six financing options and argues for their creation in order to protect against future fiscal or monetary shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • John H. Cochrane, 2015. "A New Structure for U.S. Federal Debt," Economics Working Papers 15108, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hoo:wpaper:15108
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kamstra Mark J & Shiller Robert J., 2010. "Trills Instead of T-Bills: It's Time to Replace Part of Government Debt with Shares in GDP," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 7(3), pages 1-5, September.
    2. Nber, 1975. "Explorations in Economic Research, Volume 2, number 1," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number moor75-1, July.
    3. Mr. Ken Miyajima, 2006. "How to Evaluate GDP-Linked Warrants: Price and Repayment Capacity," IMF Working Papers 2006/085, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Chamley, Christophe, 1986. "Optimal Taxation of Capital Income in General Equilibrium with Infinite Lives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 607-622, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saki Bigio & Galo Nuño & Juan Passadore, 2019. "A Framework for Debt-Maturity Management," Working Papers 143, Peruvian Economic Association.
    2. Davide Debortoli & Ricardo Nunes & Pierre Yared, 2018. "Optimal Fiscal Policy without Commitment: Beyond Lucas-Stokey," NBER Working Papers 24522, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Davide Debortoli & Ricardo Nunes & Pierre Yared, 2017. "Optimal Time-Consistent Government Debt Maturity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(1), pages 55-102.
    4. Davide Debortoli & Ricardo Nunes & Pierre Yared, 2021. "Optimal Fiscal Policy without Commitment: Revisiting Lucas-Stokey," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(5), pages 1640-1665.
    5. Fleckenstein, Matthias & Longstaff, Francis A., 2020. "The US Treasury floating rate note puzzle: Is there a premium for mark-to-market stability?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(3), pages 637-658.
    6. John H. Cochrane, 2017. "Michelson-Morley, Fisher, and Occam: The Radical Implications of Stable Quiet Inflation at the Zero Bound," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2017, volume 32, pages 113-226, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Davide Debortoli & Ricardo Nunes & Pierre Yared, 2022. "The Commitment Benefit of Consols in Government Debt Management," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 255-270, June.
    8. Saki Bigio & Galo Nuño & Juan Passadore, 2023. "Debt-Maturity Management with Liquidity Costs," Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 119-190.

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