A PARADOX OF THRIFT IN GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM WITHOUT FORWARD MARKETS

After 2008, the US personal saving rate had its strongest postwar jump, from 2% to 5%, and the investment ratio its sharpest fall from its postwar average of 16% to its lowest level of 12%. The coordination of saving and investment is analyzed here in a theoretical model of general equilibrium with rational expectations and no forward market. Shocks affect preferences for future consumption. A paradox of thrift is proven that formalizes an argument in the General Theory of Keynes but the equilibrium is a constrained Pareto optimum. Textbook fiscal policies are neutral at best, or inefficient.     

Temporary Employment in France: A Decade Statement

One of the more important aspects of French labour market changes since the mid-1970s is the growth of temporary work; fixed-term contracts and interim contracts. With a survey of French literature since the early 1980s, this article analyses explanatory factors of temporary work: macroeconomic factors: institutional framework, workforce supply to user firms, economic fluctuations; microeconomic factors: firm/ plant characteristics, economic and social firm strategies. Models of firms supplying temporary jobs are presented.