A Case Where Barro Expectations Are Not Rational

Ekkehart Schlicht

Discussion Papers in Economics from University of Munich, Department of Economics

Abstract: This note generalizes Feldstein’s (1976) criticism of Barro’s(1974) analysis for the case that the interest rate exceeds the growth rate. This is done by considering an economy in steady state where all agents hold “Barro expectations”: they believe that government debt must necessarily be repaid and therefore leave the present value of their income streams unchanged. In this scenario, a change in the mode of taxation affects the present value of disposable income in the private sector. This violates their Barro expectations.

Keywords: Barro-Ricardo equivalence; Ricardian equivalence; fiscal policy; debt; taxation; rational expectations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E12 E2 E6 H6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Unexpected Consequences of Ricardian Expectations (2012)
Working Paper: A case where Barro expectations are not rational (2012)
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