In a narrower sense, the sum of all securitized and statistically recorded liabilities of the public sector (explicit public debt). – In a broader sense, plus all expenditures that have already been decided but will only take effect in the future (implicit public debt). In particular, social insurance schemes financed on a pay-as-you-go basis already contain payment obligations for the future. These obligations represent a debt that is not reflected in today’s budgets; for the most part, they will have to be met by future generations. Because, as a result of the aging of society, an ever-smaller number of contributors is confronted with a growing number of beneficiaries, the implicit public debt harbors a host of problems. – The sum of and is also called veritable public debt. For Germany, this was estimated at 290 (!!) percent of gross domestic product in 2010. – High public debt inevitably means high government spending on interest payments. In 2040, the mountain of debt accumulated in Germany over the decades will devour fifteen percent of gross domestic product via interest payments. This in turn leads to pressure on the central bank to keep interest rates very low or even to deliberately, intentionally encourage inflation. – In the course of the financial crisis that followed the subprime crisis, the U.S. central bank bought up government bonds issued by its own government. This is tantamount to an almost unbridled increase in the money supply (monetary parectasis) and has been criticized as a reckless attack on people’s savings, because it programs inflation. – See age ratio, Bundesrepublik Deutschland Finanzagentur GmbH, deficit hawk, deficit ratio, European Monetary Union, fundamental error, ECB sin, fiscal referendum, default, day care for children, control account, credit freeze, net creditor, policy default, primary balance, private sector participation, Rogoff study, debt, floating, debt brake, sensitivity analysis, fiscal, solidarity, financial, government debt pressure, government debt-interest rate relationship, stability and growth pact, tax competition, fiscal framework, sunset proviso, sustainability gap, constitutional article one, debt-to-GDP ratio, public, Wagner’s law, path inflation, payday rule, interest burden, interest rate swap. – Cf. the debt level, broken down for the members of the monetary union and the EU, in the ECB’s Statistics Pocket Book; total debt (stock and change figures) in the annex “Euro area statistics,” heading “Public finances” of the respective ECB Monthly Bulletin, ECB Monthly Bulletin of April 2005 (because of the statistical comparability of the figures shown), ECB Annual Report 2004, pp. 63 et seq. (various overviews), ECB Monthly Bulletin of August 2005, p. 78 (annotated overview of debt in individual states), ECB Monthly Report of February 2007, p. 65 ff. (detailed assessment of the sustainability of public finances in the monetary union), Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report of October 2007, p. 48 ff. (considerations on an effective limit), Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report of May 2009, p. 25 (contingent liabilities would have to be included in government debt), ECB Monthly Report of September 2009, p. 94 ff. (Reducing government debt: Experiences in the euro area; table; references), ECB Monthly Bulletin of May 2010, p. 34 ff. (level and breakdown of government borrowing in the euro area since 2008; overviews; issuance behavior of sovereigns), Deutsche Bundesbank Annual Report 2010, p. 64 (key figures 1998 to 2010), p. 92 ff. (measures to contain government debt in Europe), Financial Stability Report 2010, pp. 28 f. (debt-growth relationship), ECB Monthly Bulletin of March 2011, pp. 104 ff. (debt measured by primary balance; overviews; references), Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Bulletin of April 2011, pp. 53 ff. (measures to prevent sovereign debt crises), ECB Monthly Report of April 2012, pp. 63 ff. (detailed presentation of debt sustainability in relation to the euro area as a whole and individual members; many overviews), Financial Stability Report 2012, pp. 18 et seq. (detailed account of the sovereign debt crisis; many overviews; references), Cf. ECB Monthly Bulletin of March 2013, pp. 92 et seq. (growth inhibition of high government debt; overviews; references), ECB Monthly Bulletin of April 2013, pp. 24 et seq. Liabilities of individual euro area member states vis-à-vis other countries; overviews; trends), ECB Monthly Bulletin of May 2013, p. 93 ff (in-depth analysis of the debt levels of euro area members; overviews; references).
Attention: The financial encyclopedia is protected by copyright and may only be used for private purposes without express consent!
University Professor Dr. Gerhard Merk, Dipl.rer.pol., Dipl.rer.oec.
Professor Dr. Eckehard Krah, Dipl.rer.pol.
E-mail address: info@ekrah.com
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Ernst_Merk
https://www.jung-stilling-gesellschaft.de/merk/
https://www.gerhardmerk.de/