How will politicians escape enormous public debts?
They will be unable to repeat the tricks of the 19th and 20th centuries
The world’s public finances look increasingly precarious. In the year to July America’s federal government borrowed $2.3trn, or 8.6% of GDP—the sort of deficit usually seen during economic catastrophes. By 2025 five of the G7 group of big rich countries will have a net-debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 100%, according to forecasts by the imf. Such debts may have been sustainable in the low-interest-rate era of the 2010s. But those days are long gone. This month the ten-year Treasury yield briefly hit 4.3%, its highest since before the global financial crisis of 2007-09.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Eating away”
Finance & economics September 2nd 2023
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- Germany’s economic model is sputtering. So are its banks
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- China’s shadow-banking industry threatens its financial system
- How will politicians escape enormous public debts?
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