We find that real interest rates paid on government debt depend significantly upon current and expected future levels of debt, in Europe as in the US. But this result only emerges when we condition on foreign interest rates, illustrating financial international integration. The previously strong...

The contribution of the present paper is twofold. First, it will be pointed out that government debt has a positive effect on interest rates. Second, it will be shown that interest rates have a negative impact on entrepreneurship. In short, it will be concluded that government deficit (through...