Money, Time Preference and External Balance

   (108 K)

In monetary economies, international differences in rates of time preference do not in general lead to long run trade imbalances -- in sharp contrast with Butter's 119811 results on non-monetary overlapping generation economies. This claim is documented within the context of a simple two country framework in which new immortal families enter each economy over time, with the two countries differing only in their subjective discount rates. Even if consumers are more "impatient" at home than abroad, trade is balanced in the long run in the presence of valued fiat currencies in constant supply, and the current account is indeterminate.

Published: European Economic Review, Vol. 33, nos. 2/3 (1989): 564-572.

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