IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/spmain/hal-01020550.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Simple Proposal for a Debt Related Fiscal Rule

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Saraceno

    (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

  • Paola Veroni

    (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

Abstract

The main rationale for fiscal policy rules is the concern for long-term sustainability of public finances, that in a monetary union may affect the other members. Among many other criticisms, the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) has been seen as contradictory or incomplete because it focuses on deficit rather than debt, the main indicator of public finances' soundness. Furthermore, the few references to debt that were present in the treaties and related regulations are essentially ignored in actual practices. Some of the reform proposals that came out lately have addressed the issue and tried to embed a debt criterion in the Pact. We review these proposals and put forward our own proposed modification: the deficit ratio countries should target is weighted by their relative debt. With respect to the other proposals taking into account debt, our own has the advantages of simplicity, symmetry, and low arbitrariness. To make it politically acceptable to high debt countries, nevertheless, could require to set the targets, at least initially, at level higher than the Maastricht criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Saraceno & Paola Veroni, 2004. "A Simple Proposal for a Debt Related Fiscal Rule," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01020550, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-01020550
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01020550
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01020550/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchard, Olivier & Giavazzi, Francesco, 2004. "Improving the SGP Through a Proper Accounting of Public Investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4220, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Buti, M. & Eijffinger, S.C.W. & Franco, D., 2003. "Revisiting the stability and growth pact : Grand design or internal adjustment?," Other publications TiSEM 043c3668-8744-491c-a329-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Lars Calmfors & Giancarlo Corsetti, 2003. "How to Reform Europe’s Fiscal Policy Framework," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 4(1), pages 109-116, January.
    4. Buti, Marco, 2003. "Revisiting the stability and growth pact: grand design or internal adjustment?," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 34908, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paola Monperrus-Veroni & Francesco Saraceno, 2005. "Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact: Reducing or Increasing the Nuisance?," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2005-01, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    2. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2842 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Francesco Saraceno & Paola Veroni, 2005. "Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact: Reducing or Increasing the Nuisance," Working Papers hal-03462247, HAL.
    4. Francesco Saraceno & Paola Veroni, 2005. "Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact: Reducing or Increasing the Nuisance," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03462247, HAL.
    5. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2842 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2842 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Pierre Richard Agénor & Devrim Yilmaz, 2006. "The Tyranny of Rules: Fiscal Discipline, Productive Spending, and Growth," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0616, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    8. Szapáry, György & Orbán, Gábor, 2004. "A stabilitási és növekedési paktum az új tagállamok szemszögéből [The Stabilization and Growth Pact in the light of the new EU member-states]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 810-831.
    9. Catherine Mathieu & Henri Sterdyniak, 2003. "Reforming the Stability and Growth Pact: Breaking the Ice," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00972861, HAL.
    10. Francesco Saraceno & Paola Monperrus-Veroni, 2004. "A Simple Proposal for a "Debt-Sensitive Stability Pact"," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 73(3), pages 471-480.
    11. Pina, Alvaro Manuel & St. Aubyn, Miguel, 2005. "Comparing macroeconomic returns on human and public capital: An empirical analysis of the Portuguese case (1960-2001)," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 585-598, July.
    12. Bernd Irlenbusch & Matthias Sutter, 2006. "An experimental analysis of voting in the Stability and Growth Pact in the European Monetary Union," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 417-434, December.
    13. Alessandro Girardi & Paolo Paesani, 2008. "Structural Reforms and Fiscal Discipline in Europe," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 15(2), pages 389-402, September.
    14. Orban, Gabor & Szapary, Gyorgy, 2004. "The Stability and Growth Pact from the perspective of the new member states," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 26(7), pages 839-864, October.
    15. Milesi-Ferretti, Gian Maria & Moriyama, Kenji, 2006. "Fiscal adjustment in EU countries: A balance sheet approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 3281-3298, December.
    16. Eckhard Hein & Achim Truger, 2007. "Fiscal Policy and Macroeconomic Performance in the Euro Area: Lessons for the Future," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Jörg Bibow & Andrea Terzi (ed.), Euroland and the World Economy, chapter 8, pages 154-183, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2524 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Francesco Saraceno & Paola Veroni, 2004. "A Simple Proposal for a Debt Related Fiscal Rule," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/2524, Sciences Po.
    19. José Roberto Rodrigues Afonso & Erika Amorim Araújo & Geraldo Biasoto Júnior, 2015. "Fiscal Space and Public Sector Investments in Infrastructure: a Brazilian Case-Study," Discussion Papers 0161, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    20. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2524 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1933 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Truger, Achim & Hein, Eckhard, 2004. "Macroeconomic co-ordination as an economic policy concept : opportunities and obstacles in the EMU," WSI Working Papers 125, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    23. Poplawski Ribeiro, Marcos & Beetsma, Roel, 2008. "The political economy of structural reforms under a deficit restriction," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 179-198, March.
    24. Carlo Panico & Francesco Purificato, 2012. "The Role of Institutional and Political Factors in the European Debt Crisis," Working Papers wp280, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    25. Groneck, Max, 2010. "A golden rule of public finance or a fixed deficit regime?: Growth and welfare effects of budget rules," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 523-534, March.
    26. Pierre-Richard Agenor & S. Devrim Yilmaz, 2011. "The tyranny of rules: fiscal discipline, productive spending, and growth in a perfect foresight model," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 69-99.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-01020550. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Contact - Sciences Po Departement of Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.