We identify the major public debt overhang episodes in the advanced economies since the early 1800s, characterized by public debt to GDP levels exceeding 90% for at least five years. Consistent with Reinhart and Rogoff (2010) and other more recent research, we find that public debt overhang...

Intro -- Contents -- Editorial -- Abstracts -- 1 Assessing Structural VARs -- 2 Volatility and Dispersion in Business Growth Rates: Publicly Traded versus Privately Held Firms -- 3 Do Taxes Explain European Employment? Indivisible Labor, Human Capital, Lotteries, and Savings -- 4 Fluctuating...