Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Marina Halac • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Sep, 2025, Volume 93, Issue 5

Running Primary Deficits Forever in a Dynamically Efficient Economy: Feasibility and Optimality

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA22749
p. 1601-1633

Andrew B. Abel|Stavros Panageas

Government debt can be rolled over forever without primary surpluses in some stochastic economies, including some economies that are dynamically efficient. In an overlapping‐generations model with constant growth rate, g, of labor‐augmenting productivity, and with shocks to the durability of capital, we show that along a balanced growth path, the maximum sustainable ratio of bonds to capital is attained when the risk‐free interest rate, rf, equals g. Furthermore, this maximal ratio maximizes utility per capita along a balanced growth path and ensures that the economy is dynamically efficient.


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Supplemental Material

Supplement to "Running Primary Deficits Forever in a Dynamically Efficient Economy: Feasibility and Optimality"

Andrew B. Abel and Stavros Panageas

This supplement contains material not found within the manuscript.

Supplement to "Running Primary Deficits Forever in a Dynamically Efficient Economy: Feasibility and Optimality"

Andrew B. Abel and Stavros Panageas

The replication package for this paper is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15242651. The Journal checked the data and codes included in the package for their ability to reproduce the results in the paper and approved online appendices.