Using the device of generational accounting, this paper assesses the distribution of lifetime net tax payments across gender and generations in Denmark. We find two significant biases associated with the current structure and stance of public finances. First, not only do men contribute a much...

Over the past four decades, government debt as a fraction of GDP has been on an upward trajectory in advanced economies, approaching levels not reached since World War II. While normative macroeconomic theories can explain the increase in the level of debt in certain periods as a response to...

There is a conventional wisdom in economics that public debt can serve as a substitute for private credit if private borrowing is limited. The purpose of this paper is to show that, while a government could in principle use such a policy to fully relax borrowing limits, this is not generally...