The welfare cost of inflation has been calculated using either a Partial Equilibrium approach or a General Equilibrium approach. Although the latter can be considered analytically superior generally producing higher results than those obtained by a Partial Equilibrium analysis - for instance, Dotsey and Ireland (1996) for the USA, and Yoshino, 2002, for Brazil), there are also many cases in which the results are comparable with the two approaches - see, for instance, Rossi (2003) using Partial Equilibrium against Polato e Fava and Rocha (2003) using General Equilibrium, both in application for Brazil.The application of a General Equilibrium analysis here follows Abel (1997)'s work and considers certain aspects not taken into account in previous studies applied to Brazil, more precisely, the role of inflation on the welfare of individuals in view of tax being levied on their nominal (rather than real) income.
welfare cost of inflation; seigniorage; general equilibrium model
