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.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on government debt
Displaying 1 - 20 of 33 articles
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.
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.
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.
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.
National governments do not, and should not, behave like a private household.
The odds are the Fed will raise rates once and the RBA will cut once before the end of the year.
Australia needs to change its national accounting system to be more like the private sector.
Ratings agency S&P seems unconvinced of the Australian government's ability to reduce the budget deficit.
Budget repair seems even less plausible after this election and this is the main risk to Australia's AAA credit rating.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Economic growth forecasts for Mozambique are being revised down. The country needs to safeguard economic stability by taking steps to break with the past.
The credit-ratings agencies are already circling to cut the UK's grade if it votes to leave the EU. Here's how their calculations work, and what we should do about it.
Greece can learn a lot from Africa's 1980s and 1990s experience of living with structural adjustment (austerity). The damage has been long-lasting – not only on economies, but also directly on people.
Austerity was never really an option for the Queensland Labor government's first budget, and its move to shift debt make sense.
After a decade of narrowing fiscal deficits, South Africa has borrowed heavily since 2009 to support the economy. The debt pile exposes the country to the risk of a sell-off by foreign bond holders
Your simple guide to the budget deficit, how the money will be spent and the savings measures we can expect in the years ahead.
Top contributors
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Professor of Economics, UNSW
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Professor of Economics and National Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith 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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John Daley is a Friend of The Conversation.
Chief Executive Officer, Grattan Institute
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Director of Education, 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
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Xiaokai Yang Professor of Business and Economics, Monash University
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Lecturer, Public Sector Finance, University of Canberra
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Professor of Economics, University of Canberra
