The Side Effects of Safe Asset Creation
研究了当安全资产需求增加导致自然利率为负时，提高政府债务的成本与收益，发现虽然能恢复充分就业，但会永久降低投资并减少福利，而提高通胀目标则可在不减少投资的情况下实现充分就业。
Abstract We present an incomplete markets model to understand the costs and benefits of increasing government debt when an increased demand for safety pushes the natural rate of interest below zero. A higher demand for safe assets causes the zero lower bound (ZLB) to bind, increasing unemployment. Higher government debt satiates the demand for safe assets, raising the natural rate, and restoring full employment. However, this entails permanently lower investment, which reduces welfare, since our economy is dynamically efficient even when the natural rate is negative. Despite this, increasing debt until the ZLB no longer binds raises welfare when alternative instruments are unavailable. Higher inflation targets instead allow for negative real interest rates and achieve full employment without reducing investment.