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SUMMARY:War\, COVID-19 and the national debt. - Dr Duncan Needham - Dean a
 nd Senior Tutor\, Darwin College - Director\, Centre for Financial History
DTSTART:20211130T131500Z
DTEND:20211130T140000Z
UID:TALK163309@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Prof. Nebojša Radić
DESCRIPTION:This paper uses three case studies to show how European states
  have managed their public debt since 1900.  The United Kingdom\, France (
 to a lesser extent) and Germany entered the twentieth century with relativ
 ely low levels of public debt.  This reflected the contemporary fiscal and
  monetary orthodoxy that governments should balance their peacetime budget
 s and fix their currencies against gold.  All three states borrowed substa
 ntially to fund the world wars.  British governments restored their fiscal
  credibility with postwar austerity and continued to service (most of) the
 ir debts.  France inflated her debt away after World War Two and Germany t
 wice repudiated her debt through hyperinflation.  Debt burdens declined du
 ring the post-WW2 Golden Age of Capitalism as economic growth and moderate
  inflation offset government deficits.  But fiscal policy has become incre
 asingly pro-cyclical in the post-Bretton Woods era.  Governments have run 
 deficits during economic downturns while proving reluctant to run correspo
 nding surpluses during upturns.  The cost of economic stabilization during
  the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic means that all thre
 e states now find themselves with debt levels usually only experienced aft
 er major wars.
LOCATION:Online (ask organizers for link)
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