Endogenous Time Preference, Inflation, and Capital Accumulation

In an infinitely lived, representative agent model with the Becker-Mulligan (1997) endogenous time preference, this paper reexamines the effects of monetary growth. An increase in the inflation rate reduces the resources spent on imagining the future, which increases the rate of time preference and decreases the steady-state value of capital stock. This model relates inflation and consumer patience, and shows that inflation will make people less patient. Finally, Friedman's optimal monetary growth rule is also investigated and found not to hold.