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Working Paper
Understanding the distributional impact of long-run inflation
The impact of fully anticipated inflation is systematically studied in heterogeneous agent economies with an endogenous labor supply and portfolio choices. In stationary equilibrium, inflation nonlinearly alters the endogenous distributions of income, wealth, and consumption. Small departures from zero inflation have the strongest impact. Three features determine how inflation impacts distributions and welfare: financial structure, shock persistence, and labor supply elasticity. When agents can self-insure only with money, inflation reduces wealth inequality but may raise consumption ...
Working Paper
Currency competition in a fundamental model of money
The authors study how two fiat monies, one safe and one risky, compete in a decentralized trading environment. The equilibrium value of the two currencies, their transaction velocities and agents' spending patterns are endogenously determined. The authors derive conditions under which agents holding diversified currency portfolios spend the safe currency first and hold the risky one for later purchases. They also examine when the reverse spending pattern is optimal.
Working Paper
Modeling monetary economies: an equivalence result
We present a thought-provoking study of two monetary models: the cash-in-advance and the Lagos and Wright (2005) models. The different approaches to modeling money?reduced-form vs. explicit role?neither induce fundamental theoretical nor quantitative differences in results. Given conformity of preferences, technologies and shocks, both models reduce to equilibrium difference equations that coincide unless price distortions are differentially imposed on cash prices, across models. Equal distortions support equally large welfare costs of inflation. Performance differences stem from unequal ...