<p>What are some open problems in mathematical economics which are treated as if they have been solved in economics papers?</p>

<p>As an example, one of my teachers has previously pointed out to me that there is no existence and uniqueness proof of a specific type of Overlapping Generation problem, yet most academics with this specialty write papers that assume that their computed solution is the correct one.</p>

<p>Are there more examples of this sort, in which economists (implicitly) make use of a foundational result, despite no one having proven it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-22T00:18:57.090Z
Could you please link an example of an Overlapping Generation paper where the author computes an equilibrium and it is not clearly unique? (I assume existence is clear.)
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-22T16:31:31.853Z
Nobody has proven so far that stationary equilibria in the 1998 Krusell & Smith model exist. I'm pretty sure one could prove existence of $\epsilon$-equilibria though.
Michael Greinecker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-02T10:02:36.623Z
@MichaelGreinecker How about this: https://faculty.georgetown.edu/dc448/KSExistenceV17.pdf
dodo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-02T18:24:43.173Z
That paper is quite explicit about not proving the existence of a stationary equilibrium. Cao uses an extended state space.
Michael Greinecker
<mathematical-economics><theory><soft-question><proof>
Open Foundational Problems in Mathematical Economics
ertl
# Open Foundational Problems in Mathematical Economics

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-21)

What are some open problems in mathematical economics which are treated as if they have been solved in economics papers?

As an example, one of my teachers has previously pointed out to me that there is no existence and uniqueness proof of a specific type of Overlapping Generation problem, yet most academics with this specialty write papers that assume that their computed solution is the correct one.

Are there more examples of this sort, in which economists (implicitly) make use of a foundational result, despite no one having proven it?

**Tags:** mathematical-economics, theory, soft-question, proof

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you please link an example of an Overlapping Generation paper where the author computes an equilibrium and it is not clearly unique? (I assume existence is clear.)  
> **username_2**: Nobody has proven so far that stationary equilibria in the 1998 Krusell & Smith model exist. I'm pretty sure one could prove existence of $\epsilon$-equilibria though.  
> **username_3**: @MichaelGreinecker How about this: https://faculty.georgetown.edu/dc448/KSExistenceV17.pdf  
> **username_2**: That paper is quite explicit about not proving the existence of a stationary equilibrium. Cao uses an extended state space.  

---

## 0 answers

