Inflation Tax Rules And The Accumulation Of Residential And Nonresidential Capital

The present paper analyses the effect of the interaction between tax rules and inflation on the size and allocation of the capital stock with particular emphasis on the role of owner-occupied housing. The analysis is developed in the framework of an economy that is in equilibrium and in which a constant fraction of disposable income is saved. In this model, I show that, with current U.S. tax laws, an increase in the rate of inflation reduces the equilibrium amount of business capital employed in the economy and raises the amount of housing capital. The analysis also shows that a higher rate of inflation lowers the real net-of-tax rate of return to the provider of business capital. In a richer model than the current one, i.e., in a model in which the rate of personal saving was an increasing function of the net rate of return, a higher inflation rate would therefore lower the rate of saving. The present analysis also shows that permitting firms to depreciate investments more rapidly for tax purposes increases the accumulations of business capital but that, unless firms are permitted to expense all in- vestment immediately, an increase in in£ lat ion continues to depress the accumulation of business capital.

Inflation, Tax Rules, and Capital Formation brings together fourteen papers that show the importance of the interaction between tax rules and monetary policy. Based on theoretical and empirical research, these papers emphasize the importance of including explicit specifications of the tax system in such study.

Feldstein shows how systems of taxation influence the rate and nature of capital formation--key to the development of any economy. His identification of important economic and policy questions, adroit use of modeling and new data, and careful attention to dynamics make this book a powerful addition to the literature.

The unsatisfactory performance of the United States economy during the 1970s generated considerable debate over potential new directions for economic policy. This volume, the result of the second Wharton/Reliance Symposium held in May 1983, presents and analyzes a range of economic policy options. The focus of the volume is on potential policy remedies for the economic problems of slow real output and productivity growth. Given the range of issues covered and the alternative viewpoints presented, this collection does not search for an overall policy consensus. To focus on consensus would have required narrowing both the subject matter and the distinctive viewpoints that are presented here. The result is an open discussion of a set of existing and innovative policy options. Contributors include Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State; Nobel Laureate Lawrence R. Klein, Lester C. Thurow, Professor of Economics and Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Senator Alan Cranson; Alfred E. Kahn, Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability under President Carter; William W. Winpisinger, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; and Justine Farr Rodriguez, Senior Economist with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, among many others.