PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

We prove, via the Borel-Cantelli lemma, that for every sequence of Gaussian random variables the combination of convergence in expectation and decreasing variances at fractional-polynomial rate implies strong convergence. This result has an important consequence for macroeconomic stochastic infinite-horizon models: The almost sure transversality condition (i.e., fiscal sustainability with probability one) is satisfied if (a) the discounted levels of net liabilities are Gaussian-distributed with fractional-polynomially decaying variances and (b) their means converge to zero. If (a) holds but (b) fails, the transversality condition will be almost surely violated. Hence, (a) and (b) constitute a test for almost sure fiscal sustainability.