The government’s energy support package for UK business raises serious concerns about debt sustainability.
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The double standard goes back to 1929, when Labor had the misfortune to be elected 12 days before the Wall Street crash that set off the Great Depression.
Normally investors view the future as more uncertain than the present. When that turns on its head, it’s often a bad omen.
The sums aren’t adding for South Africa on either the spending or revenue side. It’s a problem that’s developed over time with no action being taken.
The US debt ceiling is a form of self-delusion: a limit imposed on a borrower by the borrower itself. Australia had one until the Coalition and the Green us, abolished it.
Republicans are refusing to support an increase in the debt ceiling, but not doing so risks an unprecedented default. An economist explains why it’s time to get rid of the debt limit once and for all.
By under-promising and over-delivering, Grant Robertson has pulled off a budget that displeases the fewest people.
Inflation, interest rates and booming mining royalties give the Morrison government scope to ignore the deficit daleks.
Governments like ours choose to borrow, they don’t have to.
Now that we are recovering from recession, there’s no telling how low we could push the unemployment rate. One estimate is 3.5%.
Resolution of South Africa’s fiscal crisis depends on faster economic growth which must be led by private investment. Fiscal consolidation is necessary but without growth debt will not stabilise.
Massive borrowing to fund NZ’s economic recovery due to COVID-19 cannot be written off without the risk of worsening the crisis it was designed to meet.
While necessary during the crisis, government borrowing isn’t costless. Longer term, it might depress living standards.
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.
Modern Monetary Theory is suddenly popular because it implies governments can spend as much as they need to. But that spending comes with risks.
With government debt soaring following moves to combat the coronavirus pandemic, now is the ideal moment to change how states borrow money.
The South African government should be spending more, not less, to boost economic growth and create jobs.
We now need a revolution in our national thinking about debt and deficits.
The new chancellor’s plans won’t look half as prudent if the economy tanks.
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.
Top contributors
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Professor of Economics, UNSW Sydney
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Professor of Economics and National Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith University
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Professor of Finance, University of Liverpool
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Part-Time Professor of Economics, The New School
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Professor, Monash University
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Professor of Economics, University of Sydney
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Lecturer, Department of Economics, Federation University Australia
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Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration, Australian National University
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Professor of Institutional Economics, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
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Professiorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Banking and Finance, Monash University
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Professor of Economics, The University of Queensland
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Professor, Griffith Business School, Griffith University
