Wes Mountain/The Conversation
44 of the 50 leading economists surveyed by Economic Society and The Conversation back running up more debt to support the economy. Only three do not.
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Modern Monetary Theory is suddenly popular because it implies governments can spend as much as they need to. But that spending comes with risks.
‘The name’s Bond, Reinvented Bond.’
Tashatuvango
With government debt soaring following moves to combat the coronavirus pandemic, now is the ideal moment to change how states borrow money.
National Treasury and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni support budget cuts, labour market deregulation, and tax cuts.
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The South African government should be spending more, not less, to boost economic growth and create jobs.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits the Morton Bay Boat Club in Brisbane, in December 2018.
Dan Peled/AAP
We now need a revolution in our national thinking about debt and deficits.
Budget #1.
EPA
The new chancellor’s plans won’t look half as prudent if the economy tanks.
Under President Jacob Zuma the economy didn’t recover as much as it should have from the global financial crisis.
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The only way out of South Africa’s crisis - financially wobbly utility Eskom, worsening public finances and poor economic growth - is a societal agreement that recognises the need for sacrifices.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is taking ‘extraordinary measures’ to avoid busting the debt ceiling.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The US hit the debt ceiling in March and is expected to run out of ways to get around the new $22 trillion limit by September. An economist explains why the ceiling is a dysfunctional relic.
Arthur Caldwell almost defeated Robert Menzies in the poll in 1961, and won the debate about policy.
National Archives, National Library of Australia, Wikimedia
History suggests we can run sizable budget deficits while shrinking the budget debt burden. Mid last century our leaders weren’t afraid to say so.
A George V sovereign.
CGB via Wikimedia Commons
The British government is trying to unblock £400m donated in 1927 by an anonymous donor who wanted it to help pay off the national war debt.
Consumers are faced with more economic uncertainty than the bottoming out of interest rates would otherwise suggest.
AAP/Sam Mooy
If the stars align, consumers will benefit from increased economic activity in the short term. And if they don’t, then the economic recovery will have consumers saving more in uncertain times.
Politicians talking budget deficits have a difficult message to sell.
Lukas Coch/AAP
National governments do not, and should not, behave like a private household.
Incoming RBA Governor Philip Lowe appeared before the House Standing Committee on Economics this week.
Paul Miller/AAP
The odds are the Fed will raise rates once and the RBA will cut once before the end of the year.
Money is cheap right now, so where are the returns?
Image sourced from shutterstock.com
Australia needs to change its national accounting system to be more like the private sector.
Australia is one of a small number of countries that enjoy a AAA rating.
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Ratings agency S&P seems unconvinced of the Australian government’s ability to reduce the budget deficit.
The budget repair necessary to keep Australia’s AAA credit rating seems even less likely after the election.
Craig Golding/AAP
Budget repair seems even less plausible after this election and this is the main risk to Australia’s AAA credit rating.
Rousseff faces her biggest trial.
Adriano Machado/Reuters
Rousseff is about to go on trial for allegedly borrowing $11 billion to fund social programs and conceal a budget deficit. Why is that a crime?
Recent budgets have all failed spectacularly at achieving debt targets.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Yet another budget making claims of a gradual decline in government debt. But the credit rating agencies want us to keep these promises - or else.
Everyone wants to believe in unicorns…
Kieran Doherty/Reuters
They’re the lines you sometimes hear before or after budgets from governments and commentators of all persuasions. The problem is they go against reality.
Ratings agency Moody’s is worried about the trajectory of Australia’s government debt.
Andrew Gombert/EPA/AAP
This week the IMF warns of secular stagnation while Moody’s ponders a credit downgrade for Australia if GST and negative gearing are not tackled.