Working Paper

Optimality and monetary equilibria in stationary overlapping generations models with long lived agents: growth versus discounting

Abstract: This paper studies the relationship between the existence and optimality of a monetary steady-state and the nonoptimality of nonmonetary steady-states. We construct a sequence of stationary overlapping generations economies with longer and longer lived generations in which all agents maximize a discounted sum of utilities with a common discount rate. Under some assumptions the following result is established: If the discount rate is greater (less) than the population growth rate, then eventually every nonmonetary steady-state is optimal (non-optimal) and a monetary steady-state does not exist (exists and is optimal).

Status: Published in Journal of Economic Theory (Vol. 43, No. 2, December 1987, pp. 292-313)

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Part of Series: Working Papers

Publication Date: 1986

Number: 312