Emeritus Prof Christopher May

The political class is obsessed with the level of public debt (as a proportion of GDP), but if we are really concerned about debt then we really should be looking at it in the round - public debt, corporate debt *and* private (household) debt - then the UK is no outlier!

(debt in itself is not necessarily an issue, its the ability to fund repayments that matters; debt has always been a useful way of utilising the future to fund the present!)

#debt #politics

h/t Economics Observatory/LinkenIn

Mar 25 at 6:22amWeb
Show threadMichael 🌨️ 🐵1d ago
@ChrisMayLA6
My students were shocked yesterday to learn about the role of a certain Excel spreadsheet error in driving the mad adoption of austerity packages following the 2008 crisis.
Show threadJoseph Lord1d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Also government debt and bank lending is the money. If they fall we are shrinking the money supply in the economy
Show threadAlan T Perry 🇨🇦1d ago

@ChrisMayLA6

And, of course a certain proportion of the government and corporate debt (bonds) will be people's retirement savings, whether held in pension plans or private accounts. And a good portion of the personal debt will be mortgages.

As you say, nothing wrong with debt as long as it is sustainable.

Show threadDonald Roy1d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Nor actually is the #uk out of line with other #g7 countries in terms of government debt - only #germany lower!