Description
Book SynopsisAs countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, they are confronted with an even more challenging debt crisis. Xavier Debrun argues in the foreword that in deciding where we go from here that there is no longer a consensus regarding the optimum design and enforcement of fiscal rules. Rather we must address a series of questions and challenges to the conventional wisdom. This readings book provides an opportunity for scholars to explore these questions from an international perspective, with reference to European countries, and emerging nations as well as the United States.
Trade ReviewWith many national governments around the world increasing their debt at unsustainable rates, this volume assembles a distinguished group of contributors who take a sobering look at factors behind the problem and potential solutions to address it. The volume draws on international experience to show that, while nations with sustainable spending and debt policies are rare, some countries have succeeded. Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives makes an important contribution to the debate on responsible fiscal policy.
-- Randall G. Holcombe, Florida State University
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Organizing Congress for Budget Reforms by Kurt COUCHMAN
Chapter 2: Debt Fatigue and the Climacteric in U.S. Economic Growth by John MERRIFIELD and Barry POULSON
Chapter 3: Preparing for the Next Crisis: Lessons from the Successful Swedish Fiscal Framework by Lars JONUNG and Fredrik NG ANDERSSON
Chapter 4: The Swiss Federal Debt Brake and its Unbudgeted Surpluses by Vera Z. Eichenauer and Jan-Egbert Sturm
Chapter 5: The German Debt Brake: Success Factors and Challenges by Lars P. Feld and Wolf H. Reuter
Chapter 6: A Money Doctor’s Reflections on Currency Reforms and Hard Budget Constraints: A Stroll Down Memory Lane by Steve H. Hanke
Chapter 7: Fiscal Rules and Public Debt: An Emerging Market Perspective by Pablo Guidotti
Chapter 8: Populist Economic Thought: the Legacy of Juan Domingo Perón by Carlos Newland and Emilio OCampo
Chapter 9: Monetary Policy and the Worsening U.S. Debt Crisis by Norbert J. Michel
Chapter 10: The Federal Reserve and the Debt Crisis by Tom Saving
Chapter 11: The High Costs of Fiscal and Monetary Anomie: Argentina since 1945 by Emilio OCampo
Chapter 12: The Failure to Establish Effective Rules for Financing U.S. Federal Entitlement Programs by Charles Blahous
Chapter 13: Fiscal Rules for Social Security and Medicare: Would Accrual Accounting Help? By James C. Capretta
