Debt and Taxes. Deferred Obligations and Immediate Demands in Fiscal History

Rui Esteves

No 20821, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: History shows that public debt is a powerful tool for societies to trade with themselves in the future. Debt allows governments to spread the costs of public goods over time, while taxes provide the revenue needed for debt service. History also shows that there are limits to the power of public borrowing. Effective debt management requires balancing borrowing, interest rates, growth and inflation. Failure to do so results in unsustainable debt levels and fiscal crises. However, this essay argues that we need to reevaluate the balance of risks and benefits of sovereign debt. While the stated aim is to understand the past, the essay also speaks to current debates.

Keywords: Taxation; Inflation; Default (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H20 H63 N10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-11
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP20821 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20821

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP20821

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CEPR ().