This paper presents a comprehensive cross-country database of fiscal space, broadly defined as the availability of budgetary resources for a government to service its financial obligations. The database covers up to 200 countries over the period 1990-2016, and includes 28 indicators of fiscal...

The euro area faces a double challenge: debt overhang and the need for price adjustment. This paper reviews the debt challenges in the household and corporate sectors and maps out some policy options. In particular, we document the increase in private debt prior to the crisis and consider how...

Two separate narratives have emerged in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. One speaks of private financial excess and the key role of the banking system in leveraging and deleveraging the economy. The other emphasizes the public sector balance sheet over the private and worries about the...

In diesem Beitrag wird gezeigt, dass kommunale und private Schulden in Deutschland räumlich ähnlich verteilt sind. Der Zusammenhang ist jedoch dann nicht mehr statistisch signifikant, wenn die lokale Arbeitslosenquote berücksichtigt wird. Dieses Ergebnis unterstreicht die Bedeutung des...

Dieser Report analysiert die steigenden Risiken auf dem chinesischen Finanzmarkt und die aktuellen Spannungen auf dem chinesischen Immobilienmarkt. Seit der Einführung der sogenannten drei roten Linien und der Verschärfung der Regelung zu den Kreditaufnahmen für die Unternehmen sind einige...

Over the past decade, deficit spending by consumers has supported the United States economy. Research Associate Robert Parenteau analyzes the financial balance of American households and finds that the pace of deficit spending is likely to stall and, possibly, reverse course. This reversion will...

This scoping paper outlines credit counselling and debt management structures in the United States and their effectiveness in improving consumers' financial management status. First, various public and private credit counselling systems are explained with a focus on each institution's roles and...

In the paper we provide some empirical evidence of the development of private debt to GDP ratio in the sample of 18 EU Member States. We use detailed national accounts published regularly by the OECD-financial assets and liabilities by institutional sectors (flow of funds). The ratio of private...

Fiscal constraint is potentially lax in catching-up economies, but it has not been abused by most countries considered in this paper. Fiscal risks are significant currently, but sustainability and structural balances are not threatened as a rule, if the return to potential growth rates is to be...

The pressures on fiscal consolidation have mounted dramatically in the wake of the Greek and then the 'contagion' crisis which followed it (across the so-called 'weakest links' Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland). It led to the setting-up of the 750 billion euro stabilisation package widely seen as...