# Intertemporal equilibrium

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Intertemporal_equilibrium
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Intertemporal_equilibrium.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertemporal_equilibrium
> Source revision: 1349376794
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Intertemporal equilibrium**[1] is a notion of [economic equilibrium](/source/Economic_equilibrium) conceived over many periods of [time](/source/Time).

In modern economic [theory](/source/Theory), most models explicitly take into account the fact that the economy evolves over time, and that its equilibrium cannot be fruitfully analyzed from a purely static perspective. Therefore the [general equilibrium](/source/General_equilibrium) of the economy is conceived as an intertemporal equilibrium, meaning that [households](/source/Household) and [firms](/source/Business) are assumed to make intertemporal decisions. That is, households are assumed to choose consumption and labor on the basis of [wages](/source/Wage), [prices](/source/Price), [utility](/source/Utility), and [wealth](/source/Wealth) over their whole lifetimes, instead of considering these quantities at just one point in time. Likewise, firms are assumed to choose hiring, investment, and output on the basis of [productivity](/source/Productivity) and [demand](/source/Demand) over the foreseeable future, instead of considering these quantities at just one point in time.

The intertemporal general equilibrium is then analyzed as the [Nash equilibrium](/source/Nash_equilibrium) or [competitive equilibrium](/source/Competitive_equilibrium) of the intertemporal [strategies](/source/Strategy_(game_theory)) of all the households and firms (and any other economic agents under consideration, such as governments).

## References

1. ["Hicks on Temporary Equilibrium"](https://uneasymoney.com/2025/01/23/hicks-on-temporary-equilibrium/). *uneasymoney.com*. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Intertemporal equilibrium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertemporal_equilibrium) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertemporal_equilibrium?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.