DP6577 Intertemporal Distortions in the Second Best
Author(s): | Stefania Albanesi, Roc Armenter |
Publication Date: | November 2007 |
Keyword(s): | Intertemporal Distortions, Optimal Dynamic Taxation |
JEL(s): | E6, H21 |
Programme Areas: | International Macroeconomics, Public Economics |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=6577 |
We consider a very general class of public finance problems that encompasses the Ramsey model of optimal taxation as well as economies with limited commitment, private information, and political economy frictions, and allows for incomplete markets. We identify a sufficient condition to rule out permanent intertemporal distortions at the optimum. If there exists an admissible allocation that converges to the first best steady state, then all intertemporal distortions are temporary in the second best. We analyze a series of applications to illustrate the significance of this result.