We study the sustainability of public debt in a closed production economy where a benevolent government chooses fiscal policies, including haircuts on its outstanding debt, in a discretionary manner. Government bonds are held by domestic agents to smooth consumption over time and because they...

The Spanish economy is currently plagued by a deep recession with very high unemployment. We ask how much of the unemployment increase in Spain can be traced back to the debt deleveraging needs of Spanish households. We use provincial household debt and sectoral unemployment data and follow Mian...

The great financial crisis of 2007-08 and the recession have generated active debate on the role of financial systems on the real economy. In particular, central banks have shown increased interest in how financial systems can evolve to maximise their contribution to the real economy. Many...