What if Alexander!Hamilton had been Argentinean? -: A comparison of the early monetary experiences of Argentina and the United States

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bordo, MD; Végh, CA
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3932(02)00100-9
• 发表日期: 2002
• 页码: 459-494
• 关键词: inflation tax; war finance; argentina

摘要

The contrast between the early nineteenth century Argentinean experience of high inflation and the American experience of low inflation is interpreted in terms of an optimal taxation model. It is argued that the two countries' experiences diverged because of the different constraints they faced in financing wartime government expenditures. In the presence of frequent wars, ever-tightening access to foreign capital, and an inadequate tax base, Argentina's use of the inflation tax may be viewed as an optimal solution to its wartime problems. By contrast, with the exception of the Revolutionary War, the absence of such constraints in the United States required full-tax smoothing, with only a temporary use of the inflation tax during wartime. Such policies were embodied in Alexander Hamilton's fiscal package of 1790, which allowed the United States to bond-finance most subsequent wartime expenditures. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.