When dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the political and banking authorities seemed to shrug off budgetary concerns. But now that the pandemic’s restrictions have eased, debt-related concerns are returning to the spotlight.
How is it that the car, a symbol of freedom for the American people, leads them into a cycle of debt and imprisonment?
How can economic policy-makers use economic history as a guide for their deliberations and decisions? Focusing on the case of central banking, this essay argues that the virtue of history is not only to improve economic models and quantitative studies, but to provide a perspective distinct from standard economic reasoning.
The doctrine of ‘odious debt’ has often been invoked to call for the cancellation of debts in very specific and complex political contexts. In this stimulating essay, Pierre Pénet endeavours to reconsider its application in today’s society in a more flexible and comprehensive way.
The history of European debt is a cautionary tale about the powerful inducements for households, companies and states to ‘live beyond one’s means’. This risk extends well beyond public finances into the role of the banks in potentially destabilizing credit and money creation. In this essay, Kenneth Dyson addresses this potential “Achilles’ heel” of Europe.
An ambitious environmental tax policy must be part of a broader reform that addresses several problems simultaneously: the equity and progressivity of the tax system, reducing social security withholdings, pension finance, and paying down the debt.
In his latest book - now an international bestseller - anthropologist David Graeber analyses the role of debt in the evolution of human history. Focusing on the morality of debt, the book shows a comeback of anarchist positions, reflecting a growing frustration with the institutions of the state and the market.
What does a human life look like to a bank teller? The banking system’s rules of variable geometry mean that the morality of money is not the same for everyone. Money cuts across social boundaries and strengthens them at the same time, forcing those who are less well off to endure the humiliating end-of-month struggle in the name of “autonomy.”
In States of Credit, David Stasavage explains why city-states were able to create long-term debt as early as the 13th century, whereas territorial states began to do so only in the 16th century. This research has major implications for our understanding of state formation and economic growth.
The crisis currently affecting the United States is all the more serious when we consider how deep its roots go. The historian Louis Hyman shows how debt lodged itself at the heart of American capitalism during the 20th century. More than just an economic system, it is a genuine social model that has collapsed along with subprime loans.
