Public debt and financial sustainability of the italian public finances

2013 ◽  
pp. 5-34
Author(s):  
Federico Pica ◽  
Salvatore Villani
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Public Finances

Public Expenditure and Sustainable Public Finances Post-COVID

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Schuknecht
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Public Expenditure ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Historic Records ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Major Increase ◽  
Very High

Abstract The COVID 19 pandemic resulted in a major increase in fiscal imbalances and public spending. Spending and debt ratios reached new historic records in many advanced countries. To some observers this means heightened concerns about sustainability, while others argue for even more public spending financed with more “interest-free” debt. The facts, however, show that more public spending would be a risky strategy given very high public debt ratios. Moreover, there is much room for expenditure reductions and efficiency gains, that would allow to attain more sustainable public finances, boost real economic growth, enhance resilience against crises and pay for future challenges such as population aging, climate change and geopolitics.

A politico-economic perspective on financial sustainability

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilman Slembeck ◽  
Armin Jans ◽  
Thomas Leu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Stability ◽  
Time Inconsistency ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Maastricht Criteria ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Large Primary

Financial sustainability requires governments to run sufficiently large primary surpluses going forward to cover the cost of servicing its debt budgets to balance in the long run. In democracies, politicians who strive for reelection often tend to systematically violate this tenet. This paper discusses two types of “anchors” that may be used to cope with this problem by limiting the room for new and excessive public debt. First, we analyze national constitutional safeguards on the basis of the “debt brake” in Switzerland and Germany. Second, we discuss international institutions to maintain financial discipline, referring to the Maastricht-criteria. These anchors are designed to allow policymakers to commit to policies that provide long term financial stability and sustainability of public finances. However, as the recent crises have shown, the problem of time inconsistency in policy making remains, especially when anchors are weak. Therefore, the paper discusses the circumstances under which institutional anchors may help to restrict politician behavior to promote sustainability of public finances. We conclude by indentifying three conditions required for the proper functioning of collective anchors in the context of public finances.

Selected elements of fiscal policy in the Visegrad Group Countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 66-83
Author(s):  
Tomasz Grabia
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Visegrad Group

The article discusses key problems of fiscal policy in four selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) in years 2001—2014. The analysis covers, among others, indicators of public debt and its determinants, as well as indicators of budget revenues and expenditures. The article points out that public debt increased in all the studied countries in the analysed period. Both structural and cyclical deficits were responsible for its build-up. The country with the best state of public finances was the Czech Republic. Although the situation improved from 2011 Hungary had the highest level of debt in relation to GDP. That country was also characterized by a degree of fiscalism, measured by both budget revenues and expenditures in relations to GDP, much higher than those for other countries.

scholarly journals General government deficit and public debt in EU member states

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-41
Author(s):  
Michał Wielechowski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
General Government ◽  
Government Deficit ◽  
The Eu

The aim of this article is the presentation and the attempt to analyse such phenomena as: an excessive general government deficit and public debt in EU Member States over the past 3 years. For the European Union the years 2008-2010 were the time when public finances of most member countries worsened dramatically. The average budget deficit in the EU increased during that period to a value of almost 7% compared to gross domestic product and public debt reached almost 80% of GDP. Referring the numbers to the principles of the budgetary policy in the Treaty on the European Union (the deficit should not exceed 3% in relation to GDP and public debt – 60% of GDP), the observance of budgetary discipline has been significantly violated. In consequence, the excessive deficit procedure has been initiated. in relation to almost all the countries of the EU, Its purpose was to force the member countries to take concrete actions to stabilize public finances. The economic crisis that began in the second half of 2007 in the United States of America which resulted in a significant deterioration of the finances of all the EU member countries might be regarded as the major source of violation of their budgetary discipline. The reactions of most governments TO the harmful effects caused by the financial crisis were to stimulate national economies and stem the decline of domestic demand. The higher level of public expenditures was simultaneously the cause of increased budget deficits,. To develop and present the problem of an excessive budget deficit and public debt in the EU countries some statistical methods were used and the data source statistics were mainly carried out by the European Commission and the European Statistical Office.

scholarly journals THE CRISIS OF 2008 AND THE RISE OF THE SLOVENIAN CONSOLIDATION STATE

2021 ◽  
pp. 305-321
Author(s):  
Marko Hočevar
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Capitalist State ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to explain the creation of the Slovenian debt state and its transformation into a consolidation state after the crisis of 2008. When the crisis struck Slovenia in 2009, the banking system was near collapse. Through the recapitalisations of the banking system the public debt began to grow. After a couple of years and under the structural pressures of rating agencies and pressures from the EU, the Slovenian state had to adopt austerity measures to consolidate its public finances, while limiting the scope of democracy. The main finding of the article is that the crisis of 2008 fundamentally changed the Slovenian state. Keywords: capitalist state, consolidation state, debt, Slovenia, democracy

The case of the undying debt

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
François R. Velde
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
The Public ◽  
French Government ◽  
Debt Contract ◽  
The French Revolution

The French government currently honors a very unusual debt contract: an annuity that was issued in 1738 and currently yields €1.20 per year, payable to the descendants of its original recipient. I tell the story of this unique debt, which serves as an anecdotal but symbolic summary of French public finances since the eighteenth century. Created by a powerful nobleman for one of his servants, it survived the turmoil of the French Revolution, became part of the public debt and has been scrupulously honored to this day, even though its value has been eroded away by decades of inflation.

Fact or fiction? Welfare cuts and fiscal adjustments

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Wenzelburger
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Fiscal Adjustments ◽  
Social Expenditures ◽  
Western Democracies ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractGovernments in the industrialised western democracies have repeatedly been advised to curb the welfare state when adjusting public finances in order to stabilise public debt in the long run and to create economic growth. This recommendation has been founded on a vast body of research on fiscal adjustments, which has come to the conclusion that cutting social expenditures leads to expansionary and more sustainable budget consolidations. This paper adds to the existing literature suggesting a more nuanced view, which challenges the simplicity of the “cutting-welfare” advice: first, we find that whereas less social spending is indeed associated with expansionary and successful adjustments, this is not the case for overall welfare state generosity. Second, disaggregating the welfare state in its components reveals that a reduction of pension generosity is indeed related to successful adjustments whereas reducing unemployment generosity does not seem to play a major role.

DEUDA, PAPELES Y COMPROMISOS EN LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DEL CRÉDITO PÚBLICO. LA CAJA NACIONAL DE FONDOS DE SUD AMÉRICA (BUENOS AIRES, 1818–1821)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Martín L. E. Wasserman
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Financial Innovation ◽  
South American ◽  
The South ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Credit

ABSTRACT The South American Funds National Exchequer was established in 1818 to contribute to the consolidation of the public debt of Buenos Aires. It was the first financial innovation since the revolutionary outbreak in Buenos Aires, and its failure allowed the authorities to understand the limits of the fiscal and financial commitment they proposed by means of that institution. Its suppression, in 1821, offered an antecedent to develop a deep reform of the financial institutional matrix of Buenos Aires, based on the Public Credit office, the Amortization Exchequer and the Bank of Buenos Aires. The South American Funds National Exchequer was, thus, the first movement in the negotiation on the terms of the financial commitment assumed by the nascent State. This paper analyzes the 973 accounting entries of the institution, providing an interpretation of that failure and its importance for the course of public finances in Buenos Aires.

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