Managing a Century of Debt

John Fitzgerald () and Seán Kenny ()
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Seán Kenny: Department of Economic History, Lund University, Postal: Department of Economic History, Lund University, Box 7083, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden

No 171, Lund Papers in Economic History from Lund University, Department of Economic History

Abstract: This paper provides a consistent series for the Irish national debt since the foundation of the state in 1922. It also provides a continuous series for bond yields over the same period. The paper examines the factors behind the fluctuations in the debt burden over almost a century. The management of the debt burden by the Irish authorities has evolved over time, seeking to minimise both the burden on the economy and the risks which the debt represented to the state. The paper also examines how the cost of borrowing for the Irish government compared to that for the UK and, since the break with sterling, for Germany. This cost of borrowing was, in turn affected by developments in the domestic economy.

Keywords: public debt; debt sustainability; debt management; fiscal policy; Ireland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E62 H60 H63 N00 N14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2018-02-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-mac
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Related works:
Working Paper: Managing a Century of Debt (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:luekhi:0171

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