A decade of debt / Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reinhart, Carmen M.

Contributor:

Rogoff, Kenneth S.

Series:

Policy analyses in international economics ; 95.

Policy analyses in international economics ; 95

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Debts, Public.

Finance, Public.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (196 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Peterson Institute For International Economics, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book presents evidence that public debts in the advanced economies have surged in recent years to levels not recorded since the end of World War II, surpassing the heights reached during the First World War and the Great Depression. At the same time, private debt levels, particularly those of financial institutions and households, are in uncharted territory and are (in varying degrees) a contingent liability of the public sector in many countries. Historically, high leverage episodes have been associated with slower economic growth and a higher incidence of default or, more generally, restructuring of public and private debts. A more subtle form of debt restructuring in the guise of "financial repression" (which had its heyday during the tightly regulated Bretton Woods system) also importantly facilitated sharper and more rapid debt reduction than would have otherwise been the case from the late 1940s to the 1970s. It is conjectured here that the pressing needs of governments to reduce debt rollover risks and curb rising interest expenditures in light of the substantial debt overhang (combined with the widespread "official aversion" to explicit restructuring) are leading to a revival of financial repression-including more directed lending to government by captive domestic audiences (such as pension funds), explicit or implicit caps on interest rates, and tighter regulation on cross-border capital movements.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

Ch 1. A Decade of Debt

I. Introduction

II. Surges in Public Debt

III. The Financial Crash-Sovereign Debt Crisis Sequence

IV. Debt and Growth

V. The Aftermath of High Debt: The 1930s and World War II

VI. Conclusion

Ch 2. Chartbook of Country Histories of Debt, Default, and Financial Crises

I. Preamble

II. Key to Figures and Methodology Notes

III. Debt and Crises: Main Themes

References

About the Authors

Index.

Notes:

"September 2011."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613321664

9781283321662

1283321661

9780881326369

0881326364

OCLC:

759478105