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Debt Revenue and the Sustainability of Public Debt

Author

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  • Ricardo Reis

    (London School of Economics (LSE)
    Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM))

Abstract

While public debt has risen in the last two decades, the return that it offers to investors has fallen, especially relative to the return on private investment. This creates a revenue for the government as the supplier of the special services offered by public bonds, which include storage of value, safety, liquidity, and reprieve from repression. The present value of this debt revenue is large relative to the stock of public debt, keeping it sustainable even as the present value of primary balances is zero or negative. It gives rise to different policy tradeoffs than the conventional analysis of primary balances and makes different recommendation on the effects of austerity, the optimal amount of debt, or the spillovers between monetary and fiscal policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricardo Reis, 2022. "Debt Revenue and the Sustainability of Public Debt," Discussion Papers 2214, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    • Handle: RePEc:cfm:wpaper:2214
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Osband, Kent & Filoso, Valerio & Capasso, Salvatore, 2024. "The limits of limitless debt," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Schmöller, Michaela & McClung, Nigel, 2024. "Price stability and debt sustainability under endogenous trend growth," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 2/2024, Bank of Finland.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    debt sustainability; fiscal policy; debt revenue; marginal product of capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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