Sustainable Fiscal Policy and Economic Stability

Book excerpt: The public debt/GDP ratio in several countries showed the largest ever peacetime increase during the last 20 years of the 20th century, thereby causing widespread fiscal unsustainability. Towards the latter half of the 1990s, several governments initiated steps to reverse this trend, however, they frequently found that their policies were not always successful. This book examines why. that merely running a primary surplus to restore fiscal sustainability will not always work. In effect, governments may simply shift the problem to other sectors of the economy, therby creating economic instability. By linking the budget constraints of govenment and non-governmental agents at a macroeconomic level, the author's framework allows him to measure how changes to the budget of one economic sector are transferred to the budgetary position of another sector. By taking account of thes sectoral balance effects, as well as the role of uncertainty and expectations, the book develops a set of rules for the maintnance of fiscal sustainability and economic stability. position of fiscal sustainability, this book should be useful for economists and academic working on fiscal and macroeconomic policy, especially from a Post-Keynesian perspective, and policymakers interested in ensuring economic and fiscal stability.