We develop a simple two-period principal-agent model in which a present-biased government, the agent, chooses public investment levels given a deficit rule imposed by the principal. The principal sets a deficit cap to curb current debt-financed consumption. In doing so, it also reduces long-term...

This study theorizes the relationship between sovereign debt and income inequality and shows that increases in public indebtedness are robustly associated with increases in the income share of the top one percent in the US since the 1960s. First, the paper outlines the mechanisms through which...

This article consists of a systematic analysis of a large sample of the first purchasers of annuities issued by the urban governments of Catalonia between the years 1313 and 1367. Based on preliminary literature on the subject, it gathers, describes, and contextualizes, both from the point of...

This special issue focuses on the financial behaviour of different participants in European medieval and early modern financial markets. It extends our knowledge of the financial strategies employed by households, merchants, charities, city governments and corporations by asking what investment...

Western media and academia have heralded the China collapse narrative. This paper provides a critical and balanced examination of the four challenges facing the Chinese economy - namely, deflation, debt, demographics, and de-coupling/de-risking. It argues that while deflationary pressure is...

The era of debt, in the context of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, imposes the need to investigate how improvements in public and private debt can be achieved. This paper analyses the impact of the new technologies and political-economic systems on the economy reflected through the public debt of...

We present an open economy growth model incorporating various elements of fiscal policy, including government expenditure on education and public capital (infrastructure), budget deficit, internal and external public debt, public consumption, and four tax rates. This detailed description of...

This paper investigates the interplay between discretionary fiscal policy and inflation in the euro area, emphasizing the role of public debt levels in modulating this relationship. It explores how fiscal expansions or contractions influence inflationary pressures, particularly under varying...

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of fiscal policy on inflation (INF) in Kenya using data for the period from 1991 to 2021. The study differs from previous studies by applying the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) modeling to capture asymmetric dynamics. The study...

This paper examines the effect of growth-enhancing policies in an R&D-based endogenous growth model when the government does not have the ability to raise taxes to finance the required expenses. We show that the government can increase the economic growth rate by debt-financed R&D subsidies...

The negative effects of climate change on output and productivity have been well documented in recent years. However, its impact on public finances has received little attention. This paper attempts to fill this gap by analysing the impact of climate anomalies on fiscal variables in a...

We use novel German survey data to investigate how perceptions and information about public finances influence attitudes towards public debt and fiscal rules. On average, people strongly underestimate the debt-to-GDP ratio, overestimate the interest-to-tax-revenue ratio and favor a tighter...

This article focuses on financing the necessary public expenditures to address the challenge of climate change faced by human societies, specifically examining the choice of public debt. Considering the already significant levels of public debt worldwide, this decision becomes particularly...

This paper studies price stability and debt sustainability when the real rate exceeds trend growth (r g) in a New Keynesian model with endogenous technology growth through R&D. Endogenous growth constitutes a self-financing mechanism for deficits which backs debt and attenuates fiscal...

As Ukraine must fight against an aggressor with an economy more than 10 times larger, its own resources have been far from sufficient to finance all its needs, which in turn has forced the country to rely on significant external financial support. Unfortunately, there have recently been...

The public debt overhang spread across advanced countries, and the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in the Euro Zone, have revived the polarization between those who think that debt is always good and those who think that debt is always bad. This paper presents a normative model of...

Public debt is determined by borrowings undertaken by a government to finance its short- or long-term financial needs and to ensure that macroeconomic objectives are met within budgetary constraints. In Romania, public debt has been on an upward trajectory, a trend that has been further...

The public-debt-to-GDP ratio in South Africa increased from 26 per cent in the 2008/09 fiscal year to 73.9 per cent in 2023/24, raising fears that fiscal policy is not sustainable. This raises the question: did the government take steps to arrest the increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio and regain...

This paper is about fiscal consolidation measures (i.e. tax hikes and government spending cuts motivated by a desire to reduce the fiscal deficit and public debt) in euro area (EA) countries. The focus is on analysing the growth effects of fiscal adjustments as well as their implications for...

In recent years Ghana is challenged with rising debt, surging inflation, and unfavorable unemployment rates. To mitigate their impact on economic prosperity the country requires strategic policy interventions. Using data from 1990 to 2022, this study attempts to analyze the relationship between...

We assess the drivers of fiscal sustainability in 20 OECD economies between 1950 and 2019. We find stable long-term relationships between government revenues and expenditures as well as between the primary budget balance and past public debt ratio for the full panel. Performing an expanding...

This paper investigates the relationship between public debt and economic growth in the context of a panel kink regression with latent group structures. The proposed model allows us to explore the heterogeneous threshold effects of public debt on economic growth based on unknown group patterns....

We use novel German survey data to investigate how perceptions and information about public finances influence attitudes towards public debt and fiscal rules. On average, people strongly underestimate the debt-to-GDP ratio, overestimate the interest-to-tax-revenue ratio and favor a tighter...

Our study assesses financial development and debt status impact on energy efficiency in Nigeria as a developing economy. We combined the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), FMOLS, and CCR analytical methods to estimate the parameters for energy efficiency policy recommendations. Secondary...

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)'s public debt burden remains a challenge to development. Key drivers of public debt include large-scale financing of infrastructure development, adverse impact of multiple shocks including COVID-19 pandemic, maturity mismatches, and high vulnerability to exchange rate...

This paper empirically examines the impact of public debt shocks on output and inflation in 34 emerging market economies (EMEs) using panel local projections over the period 2000 to 2022. The estimated results show that real gross domestic product (GDP) falls significantly after an unanticipated...

Confronted with increased difficulties to raise taxation, high inflation, and pressures to maintain social spending, many rich democracies have increasingly sought to raise funds in financial markets since the 1970s. Using the notion of "infrastructural power," this paper examines the various...

The coherence of ideological narratives in the Euro Area is a necessary condition for the sustainability of the monetary union. Narratives shape political preferences and if they diverge persistently, cooperation between member states becomes impossible. We measure the evolution of ideological...

In addition to the significant increase in the public debt ratio over the last decades, another major change has been the substantial increase in the maturity of sovereign borrowing. This study is the first to investigate the impact of the term structure of public debt on fiscal sustainability....