IMF WEO Debt Reduction Chapter — Brian Romanchuk

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently published its World Economic Outlook (WEO) which has a combination of a report and an annual database of macroeconomic data (including forecasts). The beauty of this database is that the IMF has boffins that work to harmonise the data across countries. I normally do not pay too much attention to the text of the report, but it has a chapter entitled “Coming Down to Earth: How to Tackle Soaring Public Debt” which attracted some attention. (There was also a chapter on the natural rate of interest that would probably cause me to lose a portion of what remains of my hair.)

I am not going to get into the discussion of whether we are supposed to worry about the debt/GDP ratio, but I would note that the discussion is global — with quite a bit of it aimed at debt restructuring in poorer countries. That is outside my area of experience, so I am staying clear of that. Instead, I just want to make some quick comments about the floating currency sovereign parts. Even though I do not care about the debt/GDP ratio, some people do — and they often impose austerity policies to deal with them.…

Bond Economics
IMF WEO Debt Reduction Chapter
Brian Romanchuk