Notes on the Economics of Infinity

Bibliographic Data

ID10182262
AuthorsKarl Shell (corresponding author)
Year1971
Volume79
Issue5
Pages1002-1011
Publication date1971-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3808 • E-ISSN: 1537-534X
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/259811
OpenAlexW2034904321
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited2

This is an attempt to expose the essence of Samuelson's consumption loan paradox. It is maintained that the double infinity of traders and dated commodities allows for competitive equilibria that are not Pareto-optimal. While such models are most interesting in the dynamic setting, the fact that generations do not meet is not essential. The chain-letter aspect of the model reminds us that the appropriate form of the budget constraint is not obvious for the potentially infinitely long-lived economic entity (such as the corporation or the family). The analysis is related to recent contributions in the theories of general equilibrium, economic planning, and decentralization

Budget constraint · Competitive equilibrium · Constraint (computer-aided design · Consumption (sociology · Corporation · Decentralization · Economics · General equilibrium theory · Infinity · Loan · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Mathematical economics · Mathematical optimization · Microeconomics · Multi-objective optimization · Neoclassical economics · Operations management · Pareto optimal · Pareto principle · Sociology · Economic theories and models · Economic Theory and Institutions · Economic Theory and Policy · Finance · Mathematics

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