Previous issues of Intereconomics
Public Debt and Growth in Times of Low Interest Rates
The discussion about low interest rates and appropriate debt rules gained renewed impetus after Olivier Blanchard’s 2019 presidential address to the American Economic Association. Interest rates are persistently below growth rates in most advanced economies, including euro area sovereigns. Under these conditions, could an active use of fiscal policy lead to a more stable growth rate? What are the main impediments to a more active fiscal policy? How much leeway do the fiscal authorities in the euro area have to follow counter-cyclical fiscal policies aimed at providing some stimulus to the economy? With interest rates much below growth rates, should concerns about debt sustainability in Europe be put to rest? This Forum seeks answers to these questions by looking at the private wealth accumulated by the private sector, introducing a Golden Rule under which deficits would be permitted to finance public investment, examining the sustainability of government debt through a behavioural macroeconomic model that uses ‘animal spirits’ and analysing the case of Japan.
Editorial: The Fall of the Iron Curtain: 30 Years On
by László Andor
Forum: Low Interest Rates and Public Borrowing
by Daniel Gros
Forum: Capital Abundance and Its Consequences for Trade Policy
by Carl Christian von Weizsäcker
Forum: Fiscal Policy at the Zero Lower Bound
by Ángel Ubide
Forum: Time to Change Budgetary Priorities in the Eurozone
by Paul De Grauwe and Yuemei Ji
Forum: Japanese Economy: Two Lost Decades and How Many More?
by Yoshiyasu Ono
Letter from America: US States Lead the Way on Climate Policy in America
by Kathryne Cleary and Karen Palmer