In this paper, the effects of certain assumptions on relative risk aversion for the exis- tence and comparative statics of macroeconomic general equilibrium have been exam- ined. In particular, the dependence of the inflation rate on the nominal interest rate has been considered. To do so, a simple general equilibrium model of intertemporal behaviour with the value of savings and the value of inflation as endogenous variables was used. Firstly, it was shown that, under quite general assumptions concerning the preferences of economic agents (that utility is separable over periods), a possibly important special case exists when all agents have an intertemporal discount factor in their preferences that is equal to the real financial discount rate. In this case, the rate of inflation is determined entirely as being equal to the rate of growth of the economy wide money endowment over the two periods as is predicted by the Quantity Theory of Money. Hence, in this case, the rate of inflation is independent of the rate of interest.
Secondly, it was shown that a general equilibrium exists and is unique if all individ- uals have preferences that correspond to constant relative risk aversion that is greater than one for consumption in any given period. In particular, then, assuming (as is often done in macroeconomic modelling) that economic agents’ utility functions are