This article highlights the importance of debt-related fiscal rules and derives growth-maximizing public debt ratios from a simple theoretical model. On the basis of evidence on the productivity of public capital, we estimate public debt targets that governments should maintain if they wish to...

This paper presents two views of the European sovereign debt crisis. The first is that the South in the euro zone has been fiscally irresponsible, and has failed to implement supply-side policies such as liberalizing labor markets and the market for services. The second view holds that the...

This paper presents two views of the European sovereign debt crisis. The first is that countries in the South of the Eurozone were fiscally irresponsible and failed to implement pro-competitive supply side policies. The second view holds that the crisis reflects a deep divide between the...

Alberto Alesina is distinguished for having introduced, or more properly re-introduced, political economy considerations into macroeconomic policy analysis. His seminal contributions to the problems of fiscal consolidation and the optimal size and number of nations (or the possibility that...

The paper attempts to assess to what extent the central bank or the government should respond to developments that cause ?financial instability, such as housing or asset bubbles, overextended fi?scal policies, or excessive public or household debt. To analyze this question we set up a simple...

Well before the global financial crisis, the long-term trend in fiscal policy had raised concerns about risks for the outcomes of monetary policy. Are fears of an unpleasant monetarist arithmetic justified? To provide some insights, this paper examines strategic fiscal-monetary interactions in a...