TY - BOOK ID - 43946152 TI - In the red : the politics of public debt accumulation in developed countries AU - Barta, Zsófia AU - Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan) PY - 2018 SN - 9780472123469 0472123467 9780472900923 0472900927 9780472130641 0472130641 PB - Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, DB - UniCat KW - Debts, Public KW - Developed countries KW - Developed countries. KW - Foreign economic relations. KW - Debts, Government KW - Government debts KW - National debts KW - Public debt KW - Public debts KW - Sovereign debt KW - Debt KW - Bonds KW - Deficit financing KW - Advanced countries KW - Advanced nations KW - Developed nations KW - Economically advanced countries KW - Economically advanced nations KW - First World KW - Industrial countries KW - Industrial nations KW - Industrial societies KW - Industrialized countries KW - Industrialized nations KW - Western countries KW - Political Science KW - Belgium KW - Fiscal policy KW - Greece KW - Gross domestic product KW - Ireland KW - Italy KW - Japan KW - Social security UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:43946152 AB - Why do rich countries flirt with fiscal disaster? Between the 1970s and the 2000s, during times of peace and prosperity, affluent countries-like Belgium, Greece, Italy, and Japan-accumulated so much debt that they became vulnerable and exposed themselves to the risk of default. In the past three decades, an extensive scholarly consensus emerged that these problems were created by fiscal indiscipline, the lack of sufficient concern for budgetary constraints from policy makers as they try to please voters. This approach formed the foundation for the fiscal surveillance system that attempted to bring borrowing in European countries under control via a set of fiscal rules. In the Red demonstrates that the problem of sustained, large-scale debt accumulation is an adjustment issue rather than a governance failure. Irrespective of whether the original impetus for borrowing arose from exogenous changes or irresponsible decision making, policy makers invariably initiate spending cuts and/or tax increases when debt grows at an alarming rate for several years in a row. Zsófia Barta argues that explaining why some countries accumulate substantial amounts of debt for decades hinges on understanding the conditions required to allow policy makers to successfully put into place painful adjustment measures. ER -