Generational accounting is a relatively recent methodology that measures the fiscal burden government policies impose on future generations. Comparing the fiscal burden of future generations to the burden levied on current newborns yields the generational imbalance. Micro data from the Household...

During the Great Crisis, most governments in industrial countries supported their domestic financial sector under stress and responded to strong declines in output growth with fiscal stimulus packages. Starting in 2010, attention focused on the sustainability of the resulting debt burdens. We...

This paper develops a small-scale macro-econometric model for Greece. The model will be used in order to examine the impact of macroeconomic policies on the real sector of the economy during the very difficult adjustment period that the Greek economy is currently facing. The model combines...

This paper examines debt dynamics in the Caribbean and discusses policy options for reducing the high debt levels. Based on empirical studies of factors underlying global large debt reduction episodes, important policy lessons are drawn for the Caribbean. The analysis shows that major debt...

This paper introduces a new probabilistic approach to sovereign debt projections and presents new estimates of debt ratios through 2020 for Italy and Spain. The new approach takes account of likely correlations across 243 alternative scenarios with three states (good, baseline, bad) for five key...

The OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook provides an update of trends and developments associated with sovereign borrowing requirements, funding strategies, market infrastructure and debt levels from the perspective of public debt managers. The central government marketable gross borrowing needs are...

The changing landscape for European banks influences the future of sovereign borrowing and vice versa. The fates of banks and sovereigns are intertwined, including by toxic feed-back loops between them. The study suggests considering four policy principles or guidelines to weaken the toxic...

This paper critically reviews recent work regarding the sustainability of public debt. It argues that Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) should be more than mere mechanical simulation exercises. Instead, a DSA should be linked to some objective regarding the distribution of fiscal burdens and...

This paper seeks to eliminate or reduce confusions about (related) key concepts such as the risk free rate, safe assets and sovereign risk in policy and academic discussions. A lack of consensus and confusions on how to define, measure and price “sovereign risk” is an important obstacle in...