IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/v80y1972i5p978-1001.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Inflationary Finance and the Welfare Cost of Inflation

Author

Listed:
  • Barro, Robert J

Abstract

This paper applies previous theoretical and empirical results on inflation and demand for money to a study of inflationary finance and the welfare cost of inflation. The amount of revenue generated by a steady inflation is derived as a function of the inflation rate and some underlying parameters. Empirically, the revenue-maximizing rate is on the order of 140 percent per month with the corresponding revenue approximating 15 percent of national income. It is argued that hyper-inflations become unstable when the revenue-maximizing rate is exceeded. Because inflation leads to higher transaction costs (resulting from greater payment frequencies and reduced use of "money" as a payments medium), there is a net social cost attached to inflationary finance. The model implies that marginal collection costs of inflationary finance exceed 50 percent for all positive rates of inflation-hence, alternative means of raising revenue should be socially preferable. The analysis also provides estimates of the social gain from moving to the optimum quantity of money as 1-3 percent of income.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Barro, Robert J, 1972. "Inflationary Finance and the Welfare Cost of Inflation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(5), pages 978-1001, Sept.-Oct.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:80:y:1972:i:5:p:978-1001
    DOI: 10.1086/259946
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/259946
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. See http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE for details.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/259946?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J, 1970. "Inflation, the Payments Period, and the Demand for Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(6), pages 1228-1263, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Friedman, Milton, 1971. "Government Revenue from Inflation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(4), pages 846-856, July-Aug..
    3. Feige, Edgar L & Parkin, Michael, 1971. "The Optimal Quantity of Money, Bonds, Commodity Inventories, and Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 335-349, June.
    4. Stein, Jerome L, 1970. "Monetary Growth Theory in Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 85-106, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ferda Halicioglu, 2005. "Active And Passive Seigniorage Revenues: The Case For Turkey 1970-1997," Macroeconomics 0503010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Easterly, William R & Mauro, Paolo & Schmidt-Hebbel, Klaus, 1995. "Money Demand and Seigniorage-Maximizing Inflation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(2), pages 583-603, May.
    3. Siffat Mushtaq & Abdul Rashid & Abdul Qayyum, 2012. "On the Welfare Cost of Inflation: The Case of Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 61-96.
    4. repec:bas:econth:y:2012:i:3:p:37-57 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Vincent Geloso & Casey Pender, 2023. "The myth of wartime prosperity: Evidence from the Canadian experience," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 104(4), pages 377-394, July.
    6. Luca Benati, Juan-Pablo Nicolini, 2024. "The Welfare Costs of Inflation Reconsidered," Diskussionsschriften dp2408, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    7. Stanley Fischer, 1983. "Seigniorage and Fixed Exchange Rates: An Optimal Inflation Tax Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Policies and the World Capital Market: The Problem of Latin American Countries, pages 59-70, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Miller, Steph & Ndhlela, Thandinkosi, 2019. "Money Demand and Seignorage Maximization before the End of the Zimbabwean Dollar," Working Papers 06934, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    9. Akhand Akhtar Hossain, 2009. "Central Banking and Monetary Policy in the Asia-Pacific," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12777.
    10. Chiquiar Daniel & Ibarra-Ramírez Raúl, 2019. "Central Bank Independence and Inflation: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 2019-18, Banco de México.
    11. Mladenovic, Zorica & Petrovic, Pavle, 2010. "Cagan's paradox and money demand in hyperinflation: Revisited at daily frequency," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1369-1384, November.
    12. Pessôa, Samuel de Abreu, 2000. "Welfare characterization of monetary-applied models and three implications," FGV EPGE Economics Working Papers (Ensaios Economicos da EPGE) 378, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil).
    13. repec:bas:econth:y:2012:i:3:p:58-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Cutsinger, Bryan P. & Rouanet, Louis & Ingber, Joshua S., 2023. "Assignats or death: The politics and dynamics of hyperinflation in revolutionary France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    15. Robert Barro, 1973. "The control of politicians: An economic model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 19-42, March.
    16. Miller, Stephen Matteo & Ndhlela, Thandinkosi, 2020. "Money demand and seignorage maximization before the end of the Zimbabwean dollar," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akhand Akhtar Hossain, 2009. "Central Banking and Monetary Policy in the Asia-Pacific," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12777.
    2. Hercowitz, Zvi, 1983. "Anticipated Inflation, the Frequency of Transactions, and the Slope of the Phillips Curve," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 15(2), pages 139-154, May.
    3. Joel Fried, 1973. "Money, Exchange And Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 11(3), pages 285-301, September.
    4. Bewley, Truman, 1983. "A Difficulty with the Optimum Quantity of Money," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(5), pages 1485-1504, September.
    5. Ruge-Murcia, Francisco J., 1999. "Government expenditure and the dynamics of high inflation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 333-358, April.
    6. Mladenovic, Zorica & Petrovic, Pavle, 2010. "Cagan's paradox and money demand in hyperinflation: Revisited at daily frequency," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1369-1384, November.
    7. Ferda Halicioglu, 2005. "Active And Passive Seigniorage Revenues: The Case For Turkey 1970-1997," Macroeconomics 0503010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Lin, Hsin-Yi & Chu, Hao-Pang, 2013. "Are fiscal deficits inflationary?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 214-233.
    9. Michael R. Darby & James Lothian, 1989. "The International Transmission of Inflation Afloat," NBER Chapters, in: Money, History, and International Finance: Essays in Honor of Anna J. Schwartz, pages 203-244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Thomas Jordan, 2001. "Monetary control uncertainty and inflation bias," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 125-147, June.
    11. T. Norman Van Cott & Gary J. Santoni, 1976. "Consumption-Based Private To Public Redistribution During Inflation," Public Finance Review, , vol. 4(4), pages 453-464, October.
    12. Patrick Honohan, 1994. "The Fiscal Approach to Financial Intermediation Policy," Papers WP049, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    13. James B. Bullard & John W. Keating, 1994. "Superneutrality in postwar economies," Working Papers 1994-011, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    14. Leonardo Villar Gómez, 2004. "Inflación Y Finanzas Públicas," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 22(47), pages 56-105, December.
    15. Luca Benati, 2018. "Cagan s Paradox Revisited," Diskussionsschriften dp1826, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    16. Andrew Filardo & Marco Jacopo Lombardi & Marek Raczko, 2018. "Measuring financial cycle time," BIS Working Papers 755, Bank for International Settlements.
    17. Gerhard R?sl & Karl-Heinz T?dter, 2015. "The Costs and Welfare Effects of ECB's Financial Repression Policy: Consequences for German Savers," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 5, pages 42-59, November.
    18. Anne C. Maduka & Kevin O. Onwuka, 2013. "Financial Market Structure and Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria Data," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(1), pages 75-98, January.
    19. Jakob De Haan & Jan Egbert Sturm, 1992. "The Case for Central Bank Independence," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 45(182), pages 305-327.
    20. Buiter, Willem H., 2007. "Seigniorage," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 1, pages 1-49.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:80:y:1972:i:5:p:978-1001. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.