The Optimum Structure For Government Debt

Essays on commitment debt structure and government

Government Debt

This paper surveys the literature on the macroeconomic effects of government debt. It begins by discussing the data on debt and deficits, including the historical time series, measurement issues, and projections of future fiscal policy. The paper then presents the conventional theory of government debt, which emphasizes aggregate demand in the short run and crowding out in the long run. It next...

Preferred Habitat and the Optimal Maturity Structure of Government Debt

We propose a clientele-based theory of the optimal maturity structure of government debt. We assume a three-period economy in which clienteles correspond to generations of agents consuming in different periods. An optimal maturity structure exists even in the absence of distortionary taxes, and consists in the government replicating the actions of private agents not yet present in the market. T...

Optimal Government Debt Maturity

This paper develops a model of optimal government debt maturity in which the government cannot issue state-contingent bonds and cannot commit to fiscal policy. If the government can perfectly commit, it fully insulates the economy against government spending shocks by purchasing short-term assets and issuing long-term debt. These positions are quantitatively very large relative to GDP and do no...

The Optimal Level of Government Debt in Iran

The purpose of the current study is to determine the optimum level of the governmentchr('39')s debt for the period of the sixth plan period of the economic, social a eviation of the target variables economic growth rate, inflation rate, real GDP and nd cultural development of the government. Therefore, a function of inter periodic loss welfare has been devised for the policy maker in which the ...