With rapidly rising government debt and ageing populations implying high contingent liabilities in public pension systems, the issue of longer-term fiscal developments is gaining importance. The question arises whether, and to what extent, future generations will be burdened by current policies....

This paper summarizes findings reported in a forthcoming NBER volume entitled 'Generational Accounting Around the World.' This volume includes generational accounting studies for 17 countries. The findings are shocking. The world's leading industrial powers - the U.S., Japan, and Germany - all...

The realities of mounting government debt, tax burdens, and an aging population raise serious concerns about the financial legacy confronting future generations. How great a fiscal burden will current policies leave to subsequent generations, and how might changes in those policies alter the...

The realities of mounting government debt, tax burdens, and an aging population raise serious concerns about the financial legacy confronting future generations. How great a fiscal burden will current policies leave to subsequent generations, and how might changes in those policies alter the...

Willi Leibfritz outlines the purposes and features of generational accounting and reviews the main results of a project applying the technique to 17 countries. In most countries current policies are not sustainable. Future generations would have to pay higher net taxes than current generations....